China #MeToo: Country witnesses rise in sexual abuse trials but are women really winning?

#MeToo- a social movement against sexual abuse and harassment-first grabbed centre stage in 2017 after activist Tarana Burke accused media mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape. It took only a couple of days and several social media posts for the movement to gain momentum which swiftly spread to every nook and corner of the world. #MeToo also reached China, where, despite austere rules and almost negligible freedom of speech, women started to come out in large numbers.

One leading figure in the movement was Tennis player Peng Shuai, who accused former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of the Communist Party of sexual abuse. She alleged that the incident had happened three years ago and left her with a mental scar. However, soon after making the revelation, the athlete went missing and CCP froze her social media account forever.

Beijing Court rejects Xianzi's claims citing 'lack of evidence' 

In a similar case, Zhou Xiaoxuan (also known by her online name Xianzi) left the world shook after she accused popular CCTV anchor Zhu Jun of sexual harassment. Xiaoxuan, who was 21 years old at the time of the incident, said that Jun forcibly kissed and groped her in the dressing room. In September, a Beijing court rejected Xianzi's claims citing a lack of sufficient evidence. Nevertheless, she vowed to fight on and thanked everyone for their support. 

"Xianzi's case has become a point of connection and hope for Chinese women...We won't use the result to define our efforts in the past three years. No matter how difficult it may be to speak up in the future, we will carry on. Once ignited, the sparks of #MeToo can never be extinguished," Ashley Xie, who waited outside the courthouse during the hearing was quoted as saying by BBC.

In the latest case, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sacked a female employee who accused her manager of sexual assault, a move that comes months after the Chinese firm admitted bungling its initial response to the case. Zhou touched off a furore earlier in August after she published an 8,000-word article accusing her manager and another client of sexual assault after consuming alcohol during a work trip. While the manager was fired and the others involved resigned, Alibaba soon took a 360 and accused Zhou of “spreading misinformation”.

(Image: AP)