Suppression, perseverance and anger: #MeToo in China gains speed against all odds



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After Luo Xixi accused his supervisor Chen Xiaowu of badual harbadment on the New Year, the #MeToo movement in China set the universities on fire. Shen Yang, professor at Peking University and Nanjing University, Zhang Peng, professor at Sun Yat-sen University, Xie Luncan, professor at the University of Nanjing China, have been accused of badual harbadment by several former students. The schools announced that they would investigate and dismiss them if they were found guilty of badual misconduct.

  Announcement of Nanjing University on April 7

Announcement of Nanjing University on April 7

  Announcement of Sun Yat-sen University on July 10

Announcement of Sun Yat-sen University on July 10

Now China's #MeToo movement is spreading in other areas. Despite repeated obstacles and suppression attempts, there is a real feeling that – thanks to extremely brave individuals – #MeToo will not go away in China.

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During the past week, at least ten activists from non-profit organizations, as well as former journalists and public intellectuals, have been charged with badual harbadment or badault by anonymous letters published online or on WeChat Moments. the founder of Yiyou Charity, which works to counter public discrimination against HBV carriers; the founder of the University of Nature, a learning platform of environmental protection Feng Yongfeng; and the founder of Rainbow China, an activist against HIV / AIDS and LGBT, Zhang Jinxiong. All three admitted to committing wrongdoing and offered a public apology to the victims. Lei Chuang resigned from the organization and tried to clarify that he and the victim "were in a relationship" (which the victim later contested); Feng Yongfeng promised that he would stop drinking and never let that happen again; Zhang Jinxiong is back to work while praying to God

The accusations centered on intellectuals began with a cons against Yuan Tianpeng, the only Chinese member of the US National Association of Parliamentarians who organized trainings for the rules of democratic negotiation in non-profit organizations. The Chinese media was the next sector to be shaken by allegations after Zhang Wen, former political commentator and former editor of Oriental Outlook and Xinhuanet Global Biweekly author of three books , and defender of democracy, was accused of rape committed on May 15. The accusation has attracted public attention and indignation

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A long letter "Zhang Wen, stop your aggression!" Written by a 27-year-old legal worker under the pseudonym, 小 精灵 Little Spirit went viral on Weibo on July 25, in which she described how Zhang Wen raped her at her tea room after she had been raped. she got drunk, then threatened to keep her secret by messages. According to the letter, Zhang Wen also boasts of her network in journalistic circles and has had bad with more than 100 girls, most of whom are her interns or new recruits.

Shortly after, two other women accuse Zhang Wen of badual badault in an article by The Paper . In the following days, Jiang Fangzhou, editor of New Weekly and a famous writer of 7.6 million followers on Weibo, along with sports journalist Yi Xiaohe and artist Wang Yanyun were lifted and accuse Zhang Wen of badual harbadment.

Jiang Fangzhou's accusation on WeChat Moments

Zhang Wen's response was to try to "make a face" by saying that "Jiang is single and has had many boyfriends before" and "Yi is divorced, then refused to comment further in a video call with The Beijing News

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In addition, male writers such as Yan Lieshan supported Zhang, asking her why Jiang did not resist She spoke or spoke when Wen touched her legs under the table, because Jiang "is much more famous than Zhang Wen." The message included the phrase "this woman is evil!" [19659019] Message from Yan Lieshan

A common denominator among m's One of the male responses was to ask why the victims had not received help from the police or brought their cases to the system Despite the potential for trauma me, Little Spirit has decided to report his case. In a public letter posted to WeChat, she wrote about the difficulty of expressing herself, but also how she had learned to change her mind and realize that she had done nothing wrong.

We do not know how this case will end, but what we saw is that a deep interview with Little Spirit on The Portrait was taken on WeChat, and an article on the newspaper Southern Weekly focused on the allegations can no longer be A commentator, Chen Di, told Weibo that the emergence of so many allegations in the non-profit sectors and of Education was not necessarily because aggression was more prevalent in these areas, but that those areas were more likely to support such accusations and study them properly: "This movement that begins by universities and non-profit organizations does not mean that it is the worst in these areas, but on the contrary, they are not the worst. GH healthy energy to support the resistance in the bigger environment. And the others? Companies and state organs? "

On June 26, Zhu Jun – one of the best-known closed-circuit television personalities and presenter of the" Billion-watched "spring festival for 21 years, a well-known animator for his" sentimental style "interview with A-List stars Artistic Life – was accused of badual harbadment by a former trainee.

The familiar story of the Abuse of power and However, the threats of the industry have been treated differently.Not only the accuser of Zhu said that she had been told to abandon the complaints of the police because of the "positive influence on society" of Zhu and CCTV, but a few hours after the release of Weibo, all reports containing "Zhu Jun badual harbadment," including those of major press organizations ifeng.com and Caixin were annihilated Zhu Jun a fer I commented on his own Weibo account shortly thereafter.

An ifeng.com post on Weibo regarding the allegations against Zhu Jun that was later withdrawn

Yet despite the cover-ups and the fact that the Chinese version of the hashtag MeToo remains stuck on Weibo , the movement does not let go. Weibo users have found a number of inventive ways to keep the hashtag alive, translating it into a multitude of different languages ​​and using rice (米 "mi") and rabbit (90 "you") emojis. the allegations continue to find a way to enter the public domain. One of the latest accusations comes from a volunteer from the oldest music festival in China, the Midi Festival. During her sixth voluntary participation in the "China & # 39; s Woodstock" near Taihu Lake in May 2017, the victim claims to have been badually badaulted by Zhou Yi, director of Midi Kids, and suffer from bipolar disorder, post-stress traumatic and depression for months.

She reached out to the principal and founder of the Midi Music School (established in 1993), Zhang Fan, for help, and hoped to see the abuser punished. According to Zhang Fan's latest response, he arranged a meeting between the victim and the abuser in February, suspended Zhou from working in April, and hoped to keep the subject private since both parties were in a relationship.

Volunteer Testimony of Midi

  Reply of Zhang Fan

Reply of Zhang Fan

Weibo account I 是 落 生 (I am Luosheng) who posted the testimony of the victim received Sunday a letter Zhou Yi's lawyer accusing them of slander. Meanwhile, a number of lawyers and KOL on Weibo have shown their support to the victim.

The truth is still to be found, but this wave of #MeToo in China is also triggering necessary discussions on badual harbadment.

Liu Yu, a political scholar at Tsinghua University, expressed his doubts about the "Big-Character-Poster-style" online movement, advocating instead the legal method for dealing with such claims and underlining the presumption of innocence for badual accusations. . Liu also argued that we should examine broader reasons for badual abuse outside of the individual mindset, such as the impact of pop culture on women's objectification.

Lawyer Zhao Danmiao and commentator Bei Da Fei contradict Liu's views. MeToo is precious, do not ruin it easily "and" MeToo is not a conservative movement of virginity or a cultural revolution ", arguing that for lack of a strong legal system, there is no more practical way than a social movement to sensitize society.of badual harbadment.It is too early to talk about "reason to be and limits" before real changes are made.

Meanwhile, Little Spirit says The Portrait : "I was inspired by #MeToo, I saw so many people like me, so I'm not afraid anymore. I've been raped, but it's not my shame.It's Zhang Wen. "

I hope this is only the beginning. The more people participate in the discussion, the more we can improve the conditions throughout the country, until the hardest wall is broken.

Cover image: A viral graphic on Weibo explaining 米 兔

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