How women’s rights crusaders find both government support and suppression of #MeToo in China
- As an educator, Wang Wei has received official backing for her online sex education platform for adolescents
- But it’s a different story for prominent activist Xiong Jing, whose NGO was forced to shut down
Wang, 21, who provides sex education through the Shenzhen-based start-up she founded, has received official policy and funding support for her activities. But 31-year-old Xiong, a prominent #MeToo activist seeking to change attitudes towards women, has been under tight government scrutiny and her NGO was shut down.
This split-screen contrast may reflect one of the many contradictions in China’s economic, political and social policies as the ruling Communist Party tries to meet demands for a more just society as people get richer, without jeopardising its ability to control them.
Now in her third year studying educational technology at Shenzhen University, Wang says the website aims to fill a gap in teaching at Chinese schools.
For Xiong, it was gender studies and Chinese feminist literature at university that provided inspiration. Feminism became a way to counter the injustices in Chinese society, and she went on to head a non-governmental organisation promoting women’s rights and gender equality.