China: landmark trial for #MeToo movement begins against star journalist
Several dozen people spent the day in the cold outside in Pekin, supporting Zhou Xiaoxuan.
This is the first time that a sexual harassment case targeting a powerful figure in the intelligentsia has come to court in Beijing.
AP - Andy Wong
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Beijing, the trial that opened on Wednesday could mark the history of the #MeToo movement in China.
A former intern at State Central Television accuses a star reporter for the channel of sexually harassing her.
The latter denies the facts and affirms that the young woman seeks to damage his reputation.
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With our regional correspondent
,
Stéphane Lagarde
“
Thank you all very much, it is thanks to you that we have come this far
.
»With drawn features, a bouquet of flowers in his hands, it is past midnight this Thursday when Zhou Xiaoxuan thanks his support.
Several dozen of them have spent the day in the cold, but the motivation remains intact.
Encouragement after ten hours of hearing for this first day of trial and the first time that a case of
sexual harassment
targeting a powerful figure of the intelligentsia arrives in court in Beijing.
“
It took a long way to bring this case to court.
This means that the #MeToo movement has won a lot of support in Chinese public opinion.
The justice department and all the authorities could only react to the pressure,
”explains Gaga, who works for an independent law firm.
A broader definition of harassment
Zhou Xiaoxuan accuses Zhu Jun, star of central CCTV television, of having fiddled with and wanted to forcefully kiss her when she was an intern at the channel 6 years ago.
At the time, the police, she said, allegedly tried to dissuade her from prosecuting.
Since then, the freedom to speak out and the increase in complaints have made it possible to broaden the definition of harassment.
“
Freedom of speech and the increase in complaints have brought sexual harassment into the law.
Even if even today, the number of cases brought to court remains rare,
”reports Taifeng, an activist and feminist in Canton and creator of the 074 hotline, an NGO that helps victims of harassment to defend themselves.
The trial has been adjourned.
The Zhou versus Zhu case is expected to resume in a few days, the complainant having requested that the one she implicates be present at the hearing for the resumption.
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To read: In Beijing, an ephemeral exhibition to denounce violence against women
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