Joint liability and aggravation? An inspection of legislative and judicial practices in cases of the crime of the abduction, sale, and purchase of women and children in China

Human trafficking is a harmful, widespread and pressing issue that demands attention. However, the prevalence of such crimes may vary across different countries and time periods, which means that there may not be a universal solution to addressing them. In response to the recent public outcry sparked by the incident of the woman chained in Feng County, Xuzhou, this article provides a comprehensive review of China's legislative and judicial responses to crimes against women and children who are abducted and sold, as well as the corresponding governance effects and causes. This study examines whether the punishment for buying and trafficking women and children should be increased through criminal law amendments and whether the current public outrage calling for equal punishment for buyers and sellers is justified. To provide a rational response to these issues, the article reviews all relevant laws, regulations, judicial cases, and typical cases from 1979 to 2022. An analysis of the change in case processing over the years was conducted using MATLAB software with the baseline panel regression model, robustness checks, and mechanism tests. This study reveals a decline on human trafficking crimes in China, but four provinces (Yunnan, Henan, Shandong, and Fujian) have a higher incidence. The article offers a comprehensive analysis from both macro and micro perspectives. National macro factors such as economic development, social welfare policies, rural revitalization, and COVID-19 prevention contribute to the decline. From a micro perspective, local differences in these provinces are a significant reason for high incidence from a micro perspective. This article suggests that legal amendments to increase punishment would be ineffective. Instead, existing legal provisions should be applied, and decision-making rules from typical cases should be utilized.