After #MeToo success, Chinese rights activists urge lawmakers to join the fight against sexual harassment
The sacking of a university professor accused of sexual abuse was a landmark victory for the online movement, but campaigners say there is still a long way to go
As China’s policymakers gather in Beijing to deliberate government plans, officials’ appointments and constitutional changes, rights activists are appealing for them also to consider what can be done to combat sexual harassment. And the first step, they say, is acknowledging the problem.
“It is time for China’s lawmakers to talk about what sexual harassment really is,” said Sophia Huang Xueqin, a 29-year-old freelance journalist turned #MeToo activist.
Speaking on the eve of International Women’s Day, Huang said that no new mechanisms, regulations or laws should be introduced until clear definitions of what sexual harassment was and how perpetrators of it should be punished were agreed.
“Sexual harassment has already gained a strong public awareness in China and more victims are coming forward to speak up every day,” she said.
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In a bid to move things forward, women’s rights groups, lawyers and others who have taken a stand against sexual violence recently wrote to National People’s Congress delegates calling for their support, Wei Tingting, head of the Guangzhou Gender and Sexuality Education Centre, said.
Sexual harassment has already gained a strong public awareness in China and more victims are coming forward
The result was that at least three proposals on the subject of sexual harassment had been submitted at this year’s legislative session, Huang said.
