China

Paragraph 111 

As to the slavery system, the Chinese society considers it not only immoral and contrary to decent customs, but also a criminal offence. Under the provisions of article 296 of the Criminal Code, a person who enslaves another or places him in a position without freedom, similar to slavery, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one and not more than seven years.  

Paragraph 104 

The purchase of concubines had been an evil practice in China until about fifty years ago. Since then, such practice has been not only denounced by public opinion but also forbidden by law

Article 37.  

The freedom of person of citizens of the People’s Republic of China is inviolable. No citizen may be arrested except with the approval or by decision of a people’s procuratorate or by decision of a people’s court, and arrests must be made by a public security organ. Unlawful deprivation or restriction of citizens’ freedom of person by detention or other means is prohibited; and unlawful search of the person of citizens is prohibited.  

Article 43.  

Working people in the People’s Republic of China have the right to rest. The state expands facilities for rest and recuperation of working people, and prescribes working hours and vacations for workers and staff.  

Article 49.  

Marriage, the family, and mother and child are protected by the state. Both husband and wife have the duty to practise family planning. Parents have the duty to rear and educate their minor children, and children who have come of age have the duty to support and assist their parents. Violation of the freedom of marriage is prohibited. Maltreatment of old people, women and children is prohibited. 

Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PDF)

Article 226  

Whoever, by means of violence or threat, buys or sells goods, or forces others to provide or accept service shall, if the circumstances are serious, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and concurrently or independently be sentenced to a fine. 

Article 238  

(1) Whoever unlawfully detains another person or deprives another person of his personal freedom shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights. If circumstances of hitting or insulting another person exist, the offender shall be given a heavier punishment. 

(2) Whoever, by committing the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, causes severe bodily injure to another person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than ten years. If he causes death of another person, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years. If another person’s deformity or death is caused by violence, the offender shall be decided a crime and punished according to the provisions of Article 234 or Article 232 of this Law. 

(3) Whoever, for the purpose of extorting the payment of debts, unlawfully distrains or detains another person shall be punished according to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs. 

Whoever from the staff of a state organ takes advantage of his office to commit a crime mentioned in the preceding three paragraphs shall be given a heavier punishment according to the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs. 

Article 240. Abduction and sale of women or children

Whoever abducts and traffics in a woman or a child shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. Under any of the following circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine or confiscation of property. If the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to death, and concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property:  

(1) being a ringleader of a group engaged in the abduction of and trafficking in women or children;  

(2) abducting and trafficking in three or more women and/or children;  

(3) raping the woman who is abducted and trafficked in;  

(4) enticing or forcing the woman who is abducted and trafficked in to engage in prostitution, or selling such woman to any other person or persons who will force the woman to engage in prostitution;  

(5) for the purpose of selling the victim, kidnapping a woman or a child by means of violence, threat or anaesthesia;  

(6) for the purpose of selling the victim, stealing an infant or a baby;  

(7) causing severe bodily injury or death or other serious consequences of the woman or child who is abducted and trafficked in or of their relatives; or  

(8) selling a woman or a child out of the territory of China.  

“Abducting and trafficking in a woman or a child” refers to any act of abducting, kidnapping, buying, trafficking in, fetching or sending, or transferring a woman or a child for the purpose of selling the victim.  

Article 241  

(1) Whoever buys a woman or a child who is abducted and trafficked in shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance.  

(2) Whoever buys a woman who is abducted and trafficked in and has sexual relations with her against her will shall be decided a crime and punished according to the provisions of Article 236 of this Law.  

(3) Whoever buys a woman or a child who is abducted and trafficked in and illegally deprives her/him of her/his personal freedom or restricts her/his personal freedom or commits any criminal act of injuring or insulting shall be decided a crime and punished according to the relevant provisions of this Law.  

(4) Whoever buys a woman or a child who is abducted and trafficked in and commits any criminal act as prescribed in the second or third paragraph shall be punished according the provisions regarding combined punishment for several crimes.  

(5) Whoever buys a woman or a child who is abducted and trafficked in and sells the victim afterwards shall be decided a crime and punished according to the provisions of Article 240 of this Law.  

(6) Whoever, having bought a woman or a child who is abducted and trafficked in, does not obstruct the woman from returning to her original place of residence according to her will, or does not maltreat the child nor obstruct his or her rescue, may be exempted from being investigated for criminal responsibility. Article 318  

(7) Whoever organizes other persons to secretly cross the national boundary (borderline) shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than seven years, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine.  

(8) If anyone commits any of the following acts, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years or life imprisonment, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine or confiscation of property:  

(1) being a ringleader of a group which organizes other persons to secretly cross the national boundary (borderline);  

(2) organizing other persons to secretly cross the national boundary (borderline) for many times or organizing many persons to secretly cross the national boundary (borderline);  

(3) causing severe bodily injury or death to the organized persons;  

(4) depriving or limiting the organized persons’ personal freedom;  

(5) resisting the inspection by means of force or threat;  

(6) getting a huge amount of illegal income; or  

(7) having other especially serious circumstances.  

(9) Whoever commits a crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and commits other criminal acts of killing, injuring, raping or selling the organized persons, or killing or injuring the inspectors shall be punished according to the provisions of combined punishment for several crimes.  

Article 244  

If any employing unit, in violation of laws or regulations on labour administration, forces employees to work by means of deprivation of personal freedom, and if the circumstances are serious, persons directly responsible for the crime shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and concurrently or independently be sentenced to a fine. 

Note: The scope and punishment of s 244 was expanded in 2011 amendments to include ‘whoever forces another to work’ rather than only providing action against an ‘employer’, while the maximum imprisonment for serious breaches was raised from three years to ten. 

Article 257  

Whoever forcibly interferes with another person’s freedom of marriage shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention. 

If anyone committing the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph causes his victim’s death, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than seven years. 

The crime mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article shall be handled only upon complaint. 

Article 358  

(1) Whoever organizes or forces any other person or persons to engage in prostitution shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine or confiscation of property: 

(1) organizing other person(s) to engage in prostitution and the circumstances being serious; 

(2) forcing a girl under the age of 14 to engage in prostitution; 

(3) forcing many persons to engage in prostitution or forcing any other person to engage in prostitution for many times; 

(4) forcing the victim to engage in prostitution after raping her; or 

(5) causing serious bodily injury or death to the person being forced to engage in prostitution or causing other severe consequences. 

(2) Whoever commits any of the acts mentioned in the preceding paragraph, if the circumstances are especially serious, shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death, and concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property. 

(3) Whoever assists in organizing another person to engage in prostitution shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and concurrently be sentenced to a fine; if the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. 

Article 359  

(1) Whoever lures, shelters or procures any other person or persons to engage in prostitution shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and concurrently be sentenced to a fine; if the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. 

(2) Whoever lures a girl under the age of 14 to engage in prostitution shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and concurrently be sentenced to a fine. 

Article 361  

(1) Any personnel of a unit in the trade of hotel, catering or entertainment, or in taxi service, who, by taking advantage of his work unit, organizes, forces, lures, shelters or procures any other person or persons to engage in prostitution, shall be decided a crime and punished according to the provisions of Article 358 or Article 359 of this Law. 

(2) If the persons in charge of the unit mentioned in the preceding paragraph commit crimes mentioned in the preceding paragraph, they shall be given a heavier punishment. 

Article 362  

Where any leading personnel, staff member or worker of a unit in the trade of hotel, catering or entertainment, or in taxi service provides information for law-breaking offenders and criminals when the public security organ investigates or deals with activities of prostitution or whoring, he shall, if the circumstances are serious, be decided a crime and punished according to the provisions of Article 310 of this Law. 

Article 9  

When recruiting a worker, the employing unit may not detain the worker’s resident identity card or other certificates, nor may it require him to provide guaranty or collect money or things of value from him in other names. 

Article 88  

If an Employer falls into any of the following circumstances, it shall be subjected to administrative punishment; if such conduct constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law; if the employee suffers any harm or loss as a result thereof, the Employer shall be liable for damages: 

(1) force an employee to work through the use of violence, coercion or unlawful restriction of personal freedom; 

(2) order an employee to perform dangerous tasks that would endanger his life in violation of rules and regulations, or by force; 

(3) insult, corporally punish, assault, illegally search or detain an employee; or 

(4) provide poor working conditions or a severely polluted environment, resulting in serious damage to the physical and mental health of the employee. 

Note: Prohibits abduction, sale and kidnapping of women and banning the organization, forcing, inducement, accommodation and introduction of women to engage in prostitution 

Article 20  

It is strictly forbidden to buy or sell a child or to do so under the cloak of adoption. 

Article 31 

Whoever abducts and trafficks in a child under the cloak of adoption shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with law. 

Whoever abandons an infant shall be imposed upon a fine by the public security organ; if the circumstances constitute a crime, the offender shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with law. 

Whoever sells his or her own child shall be imposed a fine with his or her illegal proceeds confiscated by the public security organ; if the circumstances constitute a crime, the offender shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with law

Article 2

A marriage system based on the free choice of partners, on monogamy and on equality between man and woman shall be applied. 

The lawful rights and interests of women, children and old people shall be protected. 

Family planning shall be practised. 

Article 3

Marriage upon arbitrary decision by any third party, mercenary marriage and any other acts of interference in the freedom of marriage shall be prohibited. The exaction of money or gifts in connection with marriage shall be prohibited. 

Article 5

Marriage must be based upon the complete willingness of both man and woman. Neither party may use compulsion on the other party, and no third party may interfere. 

Article 6

No marriage may be contracted before the man has reached 22 years of age and the woman 20 years of age. Late marriage and late childbirth shall be encouraged. 

Article 11

Where marriage is contracted by coercion, the coerced party may appeal to the marriage registration office or the People’s Court for annulment of such marriage. Such an appeal for annulment of marriage made by the coerced party shall be submitted within one year from the date of marriage registration. Where the party concerned whose personal freedom is illegally restrained, such an appeal for annulment of marriage shall be submitted within one year from the date of the restoration of the personal freedom.