Now she's facing online harassment, accusations of lying from the wives of the two men she accused and a defamation lawsuit from a
Women in
In the most high-profile case, former Chinese tennis star
In such a climate, women’s rights activists fear that fewer victims will be willing to speak up.
“This is helping the wrongdoer, and makes the workplace environment even worse, and it’s an attack on the next woman who wants to stand out,” said #MeToo activist
The former
But she said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press that she would continue her fight. She is being identified only by her last name, Zhou, because of harassment concerns.
“I believe, if there’s one case of someone being fired because of upholding their own rights, then there may be more and more such cases, and future victims of sexual assault may have an even more difficult time seeking justice,” she said.
Zhou accused a fellow
Police detained both men in August on suspicion of “forcible molestation”, but released Wang after 15 days, the longest one can be held under administrative detention. Prosecutors dropped the investigation into Wang, though
Initially, Zhou thought she would get justice.
“So even though I was already covered in scars, I was still willing to trust the company, and cooperate with the company,” she said in her answers to AP.
Yet, last month, she got a termination letter accusing her of hurting the company. The letter from
Other victims have faced similar obstacles.
A recent report by researchers from
A large share of the few women who brought forward accusations against harassers during China’s #MeToo movement have faced defamation suits and have lost. That includes journalists Zou Sicong and He Qian. A court ruled in January that they had defamed more prominent journalist
Deng sued them after they published an account on Wechat in 2018 saying Deng had lured He, then 21, to a hotel room in 2009 to discuss story ideas, pulled off her clothes and tried to kiss and grope her. He and Zou appealed the ruling, which was upheld a second time by courts. They plan another appeal in a higher court.
Victims face a higher burden of proof in the courts, even when they are being sued.
In 2019, a
Zhou got a lot of public support for her case early on and was able to give interviews. These days, her Weibo account has been banned from posting for a year. She said she gets messages attacking her every day.
#MeToo activists, helped by public support in 2018, pushed for changes to China’s laws, including defining sexual harassment in the country’s broad ranging Civil Code, which was ratified last year.
Experts say the national law lacks teeth since it doesn’t lay out any punishments. Enforcement depends on local level regulations and how courts interpret the law and those regulations. Also, many companies lack sexual harassment codes with explicit punishments and mechanisms for redress.
In March, the southern city of
For now, Zhou, the ex-
Zhou's lawyer,
Zhou, who chose to answer questions only in written form, said she has felt emotionally “unsteady.” She vacillates from being “overstimulated and excitable” to “depressed and passive.” But she said she would not waver in seeking justice.
“My attitude is resolute," she wrote. “I will not accept the result of the company's unsympathetic, unreasonable and illegal way of dealing with this.”
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