In an article I had read the other day, I came across something that reminded me of our in-class discussion. in an article about a woman named Zhōu Xiǎoxuán who has been in a legal battle that’s been going on for years now that started in a lawsuit for sexual harassment by her during her internship at a television network called CCTV, on a show called Art Life. After seeing the courage of the women in Hollywood and the #metoo movement Zhōu used social media to get her story out and even though the censorship in china is extensive her story ripped across social media and the start of the legal battle began.
at the beginning of the battle Zhōu and the Art Life host named Zhu were suing and countersuing until she wanted to press charges and take zho to trial. at the first hearing it seemed like even though zhu didn’t appear in court he made a statement that essentially claimed that he was a victim of smearing. without warning the second hearing got canceled and then denied Zhōu’s new cause of action request. as a result, she went to retrieve video evidence but the court blocked all of her attempts and in the end, the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. I found this article interesting because we talked about the spread of #metoo to other countries, however, it’s terrible that there wasn’t any chance of justice for Zhōu due to the censorship in china.
#MeToo setback: Chinese court rules dismisses ex-intern’s sexual harassment case against TV star
I am so glad that you made this post regarding Zhōu’s sexual harrassment case in China. I too had come across this article and hoped that someone would make a blog post about it! It is amazing to me that the #MeToo movement has influenced not only women and men in America to take a stand against their predators, but victims worldwide. I believe in Zhōu’s case and hope that her appeal to overrule the biased court’s judgement will be granted. Though she did not get the outcome she hoped for, she is still an influential woman who has taken the first step in making her former boss take accountability.
Thank you for sharing! While it is inspiring that the Me Too movement has spread world-wide, it is shocking to learn the way certain cultures are responding. As somebody who lived in Hong Kong for 4 years and Shanghai for 3 and a half years, I can most definitely confirm that the censorship is a serious issue. I remember not being able to use Facebook or YouTube, because they were both blocked by the government. I hope Zhōu continues to be strong and fight until justice is served.