In the cases Harmony House handled last year, the ratio of male victims rose to 12 percent compared with 2005's 8 percent. What's more, 847 of the 981 calls to Harmony House's hotline for men are made by abused husbands.

Social workers said that a new phenomenon in domestic violence is for a couple to attack each other. They warned that women who retaliate with force are at greater danger, though, "because men's fists are bigger".

(Singtao Daily)