Women's federations have long protected the legal interests of women but in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, the local federation has branched out.

The Guangzhou Women's Federation has been offering men a special consultative service since October.

So far, more than 80 men have come to the women's federation for assistance.

The number of men who seek help from the federation is more than 5 percent of all inquiries for assistance, according to an official from the Rights and Interests Department under the federation.

And the trend looks likely to continue to rise, said the official, who preferred not to be named.

With improvements in women's social status in the prosperous southern metropolis, an increasing number of them are earning more than their husbands, boyfriends and male colleagues, the official told China Daily yesterday.

Women are generally regarded as being at a disadvantage in Guangdong Province, but some women are the sole breadwinners for their families, she said.

In addition to seeking help for matters of the heart, an increasing number of the city's men are going to the federation claiming they are being mistreated by their wives and parents-in-law.

According to a recent survey, violence exists in as many as 56 percent of the families in Guangdong. About 20 percent of husbands or men are mistreated.

The official urged men who needed help to seek assistance from women's federations.

She promised that the city's women's federation would cope with every man's case in an equal and fair manner.

The Guangzhou Women's Federation has invited many male lawyers, professors, experts and related professionals to provide services to their male clients.

Guangzhou is not the only city that has opened a consultation office to men in Guangdong Province.

The Women's Federation in Foshan, a city in the Pearl River Delta, started its office for men last year.

With help from the local Women's Federation, a man surnamed Chen in Foshan successfully won a lawsuit that had been filed by his wife.

(China Daily February 2, 2005)