Sitting inside a Beijing courthouse late at night last month, Zhou Xiaoxuan (周曉璇) and her lawyers came to a quick decision: Their years-long effort to seek justice for her alleged sexual harassment by one of the country’s most popular celebrities was clearly not going to go their way. In a short statement, the court ruled that she had tendered insufficient evidence.
On Sina Weibo, she wrote to her supporters with a list of criticisms of the judgement and process.
“Failure is not shameful, and I am honored to have stood with you together in the past three years,” she wrote. “Thank you very much, everyone — I will definitely appeal.”
Photo: AP
The next day her social media accounts were shut down.
“It’s like the only ones who can speak are the other side,” she said through a translator. “It’s the same feeling from 2014 [the year of the alleged assault]: people telling you that you are not important and you should shut up — like I’m not someone who lost their case in a sexual harassment case, but I’m instead the criminal.”
It is a few weeks after that long day in court, and the furor around this young woman who never planned to be famous is starting to ebb. Cut off from communication with her supporters and planning her next move, Zhou — widely known by her nickname Xianzi (弦子) — speaks with determination.
In the seven years since the alleged incident and three since she went public with her claims, Xianzi, now 28, pushes back on the descriptor she has been given — the face of China’s #MeToo movement.
However, years later, she does feel a “responsibility” to continue.
“I cannot even imagine how we were all insistent for so long,” she said. “For others, the fact that we lost the case is very frustrating, but for me, this is the result of every single person doing all they can do and making all the effort — this is a miracle.”
From shame to protest, Xianzi did not plan on her accusations going viral. In mid-2018, as many women in China began sharing their own #MeToo stories online, she saw that a close friend had posted her own story on WeChat.
“Back then, we still had those strong feelings of shame,” she said. “I told her that I thought she was very brave and I hoped to write an article too, to stay with her and support her and share the shame. Just to let her know that what she wrote was not in vain.”
However, Xianzi’s 3,000 character essay about Zhu Jun (朱軍), a famous state broadcasting host and member of China’s political advisory body, was never going to go unnoticed, even as censors went to work on the flood of stories online. Her post, and a subsequent one, spread like wildfire across China’s social media.
In it, she alleged that in 2014 Zhu sexually harassed her, forcibly groping and kissing her for almost an hour when she went to his dressing room to try to interview him.
She said that she was a 21-year-old intern on his show, and that she was terrified and unable to respond.
The following day, she went to the police to report it, Xianzi said, but they told her that he was a famous person of good reputation and “positive energy” for the country, so she should leave it alone.
They also contacted her parents — party members with government jobs — and told them that she should not speak out.
“What they did was deny my existence,” she said. “It was like telling me: What you’re feeling and what hurt you are less important than the other person.”
After Xianzi’s essay came out, Zhu — who strenuously denies the allegations — sued her for defamation and damages of 650,000 yuan (US$100,827).
She countersued for “violation of personality rights” — using the only available law at the time, as China had yet to introduce legislation on sexual harassment.
The defamation case is still active.
The civil case went through two delayed and ultimately unsuccessful trials.
The court experience was frustrating for Xianzi, and she said that she was denied enough opportunities to speak, and supporting evidence was rejected.
Observers and the media were barred, and Zhu’s presence was not mandated.
The court also denied her application to alter her case to use a since-enacted law against sexual harassment.
In the drawn-out process, Xianzi’s case became one of the most watched in China, despite the closed-door hearings and online censorship, drawing international attention and lighting up China’s online feminist movement.
Supporters braved the heavy police presence outside court to show up with placards of support.
Xianzi said that she does not regret coming forward with her allegations or pursuing legal action.
“People are willing to speak publicly about what happened to them and share their experiences,” she said. “It not only can comfort other women, but also make the public understand more about sexual harassment and sexual assault. This is the most important thing — young girls no longer feel guilty and ashamed.”
Additional reporting by Lin Chi-hui
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