The settlement of the high-profile divorce between Li Yang, founder of the controversial Crazy English schools, and Kim Lee, his American wife, is significant in the fight against domestic violence, as the ruling conveys the message that there is a price to be paid for wife beating.

Li's ex-wife will get 12 million yuan ($1.9 million) in consideration of the property the couple shared and the custody of their three daughters. In addition, Li has to pay his ex-wife 50,000 yuan for the mental anguish he caused her, and child support of 100,000 yuan a year for each of the three daughters until they are 18. The court also granted Lee a personal protection order forbidding Li from threatening her.

As one of the very few cases of its kind in the mainland, it sends the message to Chinese women that they can use the law to prevent them from being violently treated by their husbands.