Does Gender Play a Role in Divorce Mediation? Working Pattern of Women Judges in China

This study focuses on the contrast between the images of female Chinese judges in divorce mediation, as reported in newspapers and observed in practice. Based on the reports of the People's Court Daily, we find that this newspaper agency portrays female Chinese judges as excelling in divorce mediations because of three feminine characteristics: patience, empathy, and motherly disposition. But from interviews with Chinese judges and our observations of divorce mediations presided over by Chinese women judges, we find that in practice they reject the stereotypical female characteristics as factors contributing to the settlement of divorce mediations. Instead, they follow mediator settlement strategies, similar to those observed by Silbey and Merry (1986), which do not differ between the two genders. The contrast indicates that Chinese women judges have a clear understanding of what they could do to settle divorce disputes.