Macau Domestic violence law — discrimination against same-sex intimate partners
The Macau government initially proposed the inclusion of “same-sex co-habitants” in the scope of the domestic violence law in 2011. However, the Macau government decided to drop the reference to same-sex partners in 2012. In defiance of the recommendation[1] made by the Committee against Torture (CAT), the Macau government insisted on the exclusion in 2016. For same-sex partners, the heterosexual counterparts enjoy protection under the domestic violence law as legal recognition of a union or marriage is not a prerequisite[2] for eligibility for protection. Therefore, there is a strong reason to accord the same level of protection to same-sex couples, notwithstanding the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage. To this date, the Macau government still declines to rectify the exclusion of same-sex partners.
The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) claimed that assistance would be provided to all victims of domestic violence without discrimination, notwithstanding the legal definition of domestic violence. However, the information provided to authors of this submission suggests that frontline social workers and police officers are not trained to recognise intimate violence peculiar to same-sex partners.
The Macau Research Group and the New Macau Association suggest the UN Human Rights Committee ask Macau, China to explain its refusal to comply with the Committee against Torture’s recommendation that the domestic violence law should be enacted without discrimination. We also suggest the Committee ask Macau, China to provide information on training provided to frontline social workers and police officers concerning the detection of intimate violence between same-sex partners.
This article is an excerpt from a human rights report on Macau jointly submitted by the Macau Research Group and the New Macau Association to the UN Human Rights Committee in 2020. See here for the full report.
[1] CAT/C/CHN-MAC/CO/5, para. 25(a).
[2] Law no. 2/2016, art. 4(2)(3).
