Researchers with the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) have called for stronger measures to deal with campus violence and school bullying.

    An SPC group on judicial protection of the rights for women and children studied 100 randomly selected cases of on-campus violence from 2013-2015.

    In China, criminal liability begins at the age of 14. In their report, the rights group stated that of 159 defendants under the age of 18, two-thirds were over 16 years old with the remainder 14-16.

    Defendants under the age of 16 can only be charged with eight stipulated crimes in China, including murder, rape and drug trafficking. Since very few incidences of bullying in schools involve such serious offences, the sample may not reflect the real situation.

    Among 35 cases that resulted in the death of the victim, eight drew non-custodial sentences, 17 received less than 10 years’ imprisonment and the remaining 10 were subject to sentences longer than 10 years.

    The report pointed out a lack of awareness and understanding of campus violence and the harm it does. Juvenile offenders in some serious cases are subject to more lenient sentences, leading to insufficient protection for victims.

    (Xinhua)