Issues related to violence against women (VAW) have emerged on both national and international agendas through the efforts of researchers, feminists, and human right activists. Notwithstanding that VAW occurs in almost every corner of the world, there is still little agreement on what behaviors constitute VAW. Cross-cultural studies have indicated that societal variations in the amount, frequency, and severity of VAW depend largely on how individuals in a particular society perceive what behaviors constitute VAW and their concern over stigma and shame in reporting VAW. This study explored how Chinese defined VAW, what criteria they would use in classifying behaviors as VAW, and how their attitudes toward women affected their definition of VAW. In addition, the study examined whether Chinese human service professionals residing in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China differed in their perception of VAW, as well as the effects of professional type on Chinese perception of VAW. The study consisted of 3,540 Chinese human service professionals residing in the urban cities of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing. The study indicates that a broad definition of VAW was best predicted by using the infliction of psychological harm as a determining criterion. The study also found that Chinese human service professionals had the greatest agreement in identifying rape, unwanted physical touch, and wife abuse as constituting VAW, and that Chinese human service professionals showed different perceptions of VAW among themselves. In summation, there are variations in the perceptions of VAW in modern Chinese societies. References