In this episode of Sixth Tone’s podcast, we look at protection orders — a crucial part of China’s family violence law that came into effect nearly two years ago on March 1, 2016.

Reporter Fu Danni, data journalist Liu Chang, and editor Jessica Levine discuss the process and pitfalls of applying for a protection order in China. Drawing on data from UN Women and from courts around the country, they found that few victims get protection orders, and the orders that are granted are often toothless.

Many institutions that are supposed to help victims — police, local women’s federation branches, courts — shirk their responsibilities and prolong the application process, potentially exposing people to more violence. But proper implementation of the 2016 law, experts say, was always going to be a long battle, and advocates are lobbying for amendments ahead of a parliamentary meeting in March.

Listen to our podcast to hear the stories behind the story, “How Protection Orders Leave Domestic Abuse Victims Vulnerable.”

Episode 3 - Domestic Violence

Sixth Tone’s earlier reporting on this issue includes “Dark Side of the Man: Counseling China’s Abusers,” “Waking Up to the Threat of Domestic Violence,” “When Parents Kidnap Their Own Children,” and “Domestic Violence Law Ignored by Most Employers, Study Finds.”

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Hosts: Qian Jinghua and Kevin Schoenmakers; guests: Fu Danni, Liu Chang, and Jessica Levine; producers: Zhang Ru and Doris Wang.

(Header image: EyeEm/VCG)