Source: Amnesty International –
Li Tingting was one of five feminist activists arrested by Chinese police for organizing a campaign highlighting sexual harassment ahead of International Women’s Day 2015. Ten years on, she assesses a decade of women’s rights progress – and setbacks – in China.
It was March 2015, and our plan was simple. My four fellow activists and I would distribute stickers on subways and buses in cities across China to raise public awareness about sexual harassment. Our message was clear: sexual harassment is not a matter of “bad luck” or something to be silently endured. It is a social issue that must be addressed and resolved.
But on the eve of our action, and two days before International Women’s Day (IWD) 2015, we were arrested and detained for 37 days, on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. We became known as the ‘Feminist Five’.
This is now seen as a significant moment in China’s feminist movement. But for me personally, the arrest also had a profound impact.
I never anticipated being detained so quickly. During my time in custody, I reminded myself every day to stay strong, persistent, and patient, believing firmly in my innocence. After my release, I carried the trauma of my experience, but I also found support from both international and domestic allies, and from my family. When my parents agreed to an interview with Al Jazeera, the police surrounded our village, blocking foreigners from entering. They detained my parents in a house, forbidding them from leaving or going to work. My parents were terrified, yet they did not place much blame on me.
This experience profoundly deepened my understanding of China’s censorship system and the political sensitivity surrounding feminist issues. Feminism had been completely stigmatized as a dangerous political ideology, a ‘threat’ that needed to be contained.
The All-China Women’s Federation (an off-shoot of the Chinese Communist Party) even went so far as to label feminism as a “Western ideology,” advocating instead for adherence to their interpretation of Marxist views on women and deliberately distinguishing it from Western feminist principles.