Chinese government official fired over sexual harassment claims after employee shown hitting him with mop in viral video
- The video shows a woman beating a man with a mop while accusing him of sending harassing texts to her and her colleagues
- The official was fired by the Beilin district commission for discipline inspection for ‘lifestyle violations of discipline’
She is also seen in the video making phone calls, claiming the man had sent harassing texts to multiple women in the office.
Another woman not seen in the video says, “How is it a joke? It shows that you have bad character … Have you thought about consequences for your office?”
The video went viral over the weekend, with many comments praising the woman for standing up to her superior and fighting to protect herself and her coworkers.
“When women get harassed in the workplace, they have to get tough,” one said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service.
“The man did not even put up a fight, which means he could not argue with the facts,” another said.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Beilin district commission for discipline inspection had removed Wang from his office and party position for “lifestyle violations of discipline”. Zhou would not be punished.
According to Chinese Communist Party disciplinary regulations, when one has “improper sexual relations with others” they can be given a warning, removed from a position or placed on probation.
The Beilin district government did not respond to requests for comments.
China’s #MeToo movement started in 2018 and, in the beginning, it was primarily related to historical allegations of sexual harassment and abuse.
Gradually, women have been speaking out against inappropriate behaviour more quickly and making official complaints where once they might have remained silent.