'Speak up to prevent sexual harassment': Chinese feminists hail Beijing subway ads as sign of progress
Support for campaign is in stark contrast by efforts by authorities in another city to block a similar campaign last year
A campaign on the Beijing subway encouraging people to speak up against sexual harassment has been hailed by feminists as a sign of progress – a year after authorities in another Chinese city blocked an activist group’s bid to display a similar poster.
The signs on the passenger straps read: “Speak up together to prevent sexual harassment. Don’t be a silent victim. Don’t be a cold, distant observer.”
Photos of the signs were widely shared across Chinese social media after their debut last week and garnered an overwhelmingly positive response.
Last year the local authorities repeatedly clamped down on a feminist activist group’s efforts to display a poster bearing a similar message in the southern city of Guangzhou on the grounds they would cause public anxiety.
The visual imagery used in the Beijing metro campaign bears a strong resemblance to that used on the Guangzhou poster, with both showing an outstretched male arm that reaches out to touch a woman only to be held back by female hands.
Although the signs on the Beijing subway did not specify a police contact number or directions for formally reporting cases of sexual harassment, Chinese feminists have welcomed the move as a positive step towards combating the problem.
“This is the result of the hard work of many feminist activists who have brought the issue of sexual harassment to the government’s attention,” said Li Maizi, one of the “Feminist Five” group of activists who were detained in 2015 for handing out anti-sexual harassment stickers on the Beijing subway.