Unveiling the Intergenerational Effects of State Violence: Focusing on the Psychological Trauma of Children of Human Rights Defenders

Children Must Not Pay the Price for Their Parents’ Political Persecution

On the eve of World Mental Health Day, October 9, 2025, the Chinese civil society organization “Chinese Human Rights Defenders Families Network” has released a nearly 30,000-word specialized research report titled: “ Collateral Childhoods: The Psychological Impact of State Violence on the Children of Human Rights Defenders.” This marks the first systematic study, domestically and internationally, to unveil the situation and profound psychological trauma suffered by the children of human rights defenders in an environment of state violence. Based on extensive case interviews and documentation, the report brings to light the systemic challenges faced by these “HRD children,” including educational deprivation, social isolation, severe psychological crises, and intergenerational trauma.

According to Ms. Liu Wei, a New York based human rights lawyer originally from Beijing and a member of the research team, the report was jointly compiled by independent journalists, professional psychological counselors, human rights lawyers, and NGO workers. The team conducted extensive interviews with multiple human rights defenders’ family members between 2024 and 2025, supplemented by documentation from public media and legal instruments. The study did not involve clinical diagnosis but rather relied on a psychological and traumatology framework for analysis. Its primary goal is to reveal the intergenerational effects of state violence and to mobilize social and international attention.

Zhou Fengsuo, Executive Director of Human Rights in China (HRIC), who has long provided humanitarian aid to the families of human rights defenders (HRDs), stated that under the reality of authoritarian rule and high-pressure politics, the children of Chinese HRDs are often forced to endure the associative harm resulting from the persecution of their parents: their education is interrupted, their daily lives lose stability, and their psychological sense of security is repeatedly shattered.

“The associated repression by state violence that these children suffer is akin to the barbaric ancient system of ‘guilt by association’ (Lian Zuo). Because they lack adequate cognitive and defense mechanisms, the scars left by these traumas are often deeper and more difficult for society and the system to recognize.”

Zhou concluded: “The Chinese government has a responsibility to cease the associative persecution of the children of human rights defenders and guarantee their most basic rights to survival and development.”

Key Findings: Five Modes of Systemic Persecution

The research report outlines the team’s five major findings, detailing the systematic nature of the harm:

1. Severe Deprivation of the Right to Education: Used as a Tool of Repression. The report found that children in nearly all cases experienced educational interruption or denial. Some were outright rejected by schools due to their parents’ identity, others faced forced displacement and multiple transfers, and some were publicly shamed as “children of political prisoners” by teachers and peers in the classroom. The education system, meant to ensure equal development, has been weaponized for political persecution.

2. Widespread Mental Health Crisis: Self-Harm and Suicidal Ideation. Multiple children and adolescents exhibited severe symptoms like depression, anxiety, insomnia, and hypervigilance. Furthermore, some reached a point where “they sought ‘liberation’ by abandoning life,” resulting in documented cases of self-harm and attempted suicide. Prolonged exposure to high-pressure, fear-inducing environments prevents them from achieving normal identity formation and socialization during adolescence, posing severe risks for their adulthood.

3. Frequent Fragmentation of Family Structure. In the majority of cases, one or both parents were subjected to long-term imprisonment, restriction of freedom, or forced exile. Children lost their primary attachment figures during critical developmental stages, relying on single parents or fragmented kinship care. This chronic separation led to severe attachment disorders and a pervasive sense of insecurity.

4. Continuation and Silencing of Intergenerational Trauma. The parents’ fear, shame, and powerlessness are often transmitted to their children through emotional atmosphere and behavioral patterns, forming a “silent legacy.” Some children even normalize torture and humiliation, prematurely adopting the role of “protecting their parents,” thereby losing the safety and freedom of childhood through premature adultification.

5. Exile Abroad: Not an End, But a New Predicament. While some children were fortunate enough to leave China, they faced new difficulties abroad: language barriers, cultural isolation, identity anxiety, economic hardship, and the persistence of trauma responses. Exile marks a relative start to safety but simultaneously represents a continuation of isolation and compounded adversity.

Recommendations: Three Guiding Principles and Six Calls to Action

The report proposes that protection must be driven by a child-centered approach that recognizes their independent rights and needs, and mobilized across social, legal, and international levels:

Principle 1: Recognize Independent Children’s Rights. Minors must not be subject to associative punishment due to their parents’ activism. All actions involving political repression must explicitly exclude children.

Principle 2: Establish Effective Social Support Networks. Domestically, philanthropic organizations, educators, and civil society must be mobilized to provide compensatory support, including psychological counseling, academic assistance, and social integration. Internationally, transnational NGOs and diaspora communities must share the responsibility for reception and assistance.

Principle 3: Strengthen International Oversight Mechanisms. International bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Rights of the Child must place these cases on their agendas, urging China to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

At the concrete action level, the report presents six calls:

Educational Safeguards: Immediately halt the practice of denying children school access based on parental identity and provide compensatory educational resources.

Mental Health Support: Provide professional psychological counseling and long-term intervention for traumatized children to prevent crises from escalating.

Right to Family Reunification: Stop forced parent-child separations and guarantee children’s right to reunite with their parents.

Anti-Discrimination Protection: Schools and communities must establish anti-discrimination mechanisms to prevent the stigmatization of “children of political prisoners” in daily life.

Exile Assistance: Provide scholarships, temporary housing, and language training for children in exile to alleviate their survival pressures.

International Advocacy: Encourage international NGOs, academic institutions, and media to continuously document and speak out, preventing the plight of this group from being obscured.

The report emphasizes that if Chinese society and the international community continue to ignore these children, the trauma and silence they carry will be passed down for generations, becoming a lasting wound. Only through acknowledgement, support, and decisive action can their “ Collateral Childhoods “ be broken.

Chinese Full Report Link: 被连坐的童年 - 国家暴力下的人权捍卫者子女心理创伤研究报告

AI English Translation of the Report: Collateral Childhoods - The Psychological Impact of State Violence on the Children of Human Rights Defenders