The public and experts are calling for more protection for women after a report showed that they were victims in an increasing percentage of crimes.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday that women were victims in 35.8 percent of criminal cases in 2013, up from 33.3 percent in 2010.

"Cases involving sexual abuse of girls, violence and young women going missing have occurred frequently in recent years. Protecting women from being victims of crime remains an important task," said the report.

Zhu Xuhong, a researcher of women's studies at the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, said that the gender imbalance, relatively low educational levels in rural areas and improper media publicity of crimes against women are all behind the rise in cases.

Society should take measures to protect women, she said.

"We have been condemning the criminals, but we seldom teach women how to protect themselves. I think every woman should take compulsory self-defense lessons," she said.

Zhu said that self-defense tools should be provided to women in every community, while women-friendly services should be adopted.

"In Seoul, capital of South Korea, a bodyguard service for single women who are off duty between 10 pm to 1 am is available. I think we should also introduce this service in China, or at least add patrol forces at night," she said.

Shen Bing, 28, has been teaching her 18-month-old daughter that no one is allowed to touch her private parts.

"The news that little girls have been sexually assaulted or harassed just haunts me. I think our country should have stricter laws," she said.

Shen said that such criminals should receive heavier punishments and that chemical castration should be introduced in China, "so that no one would dare to do such things".

yanyiqi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/05/2015 page4)