Psychiatrists investigating very high rates of suicide among young, rural Chinese women are finding that impulsive behaviour and the ready availability of poisonous substances are significant contributory factors, whereas mental illness is a deciding factor less often than in many other countries.

China does not collect official data on domestic violence. However, over the last ten years the Women's Federation and other women's organisations have begun to investigate the issue. For the most part, their research has been quantitative in nature, relying on surveys and questionnaires. Nevertheless, their findings suggest a far-reaching problem, extending into all segments of society.

How does Xiao Li fare in the womb? What are her chances of being born alive and well? Notoriously, the ratio of male to female births is heavily skewed in China: 118 male births are registered for every 100 females.¹ This is so far from the global norm as to suggest that, despite government awareness of and attempts to control the phenomenon, significant numbers of prospective parents obtain ultrasound tests and abort female foetuses. (Foetal gender tests are also possible using traditional Chinese medicine.)

Two townships each in fifteen counties nationwide have now been selected to participate in a UN Population Fund 'women's empowerment' project which will combine microfinance and reproductive health training programmes.