The video has revived an online debate on sexual harassment and gender-based violence in China, where women’s rights talks have grown in recent years despite pressure from patriarchal society, internet censorship and unequal legal support.
“All this can happen to me”
The brazen attack was widely discussed on Chinese social media, ranking in the top six on Weibo’s most discussed topics.
“All this can happen to me, it can happen to any of us,” said one commentator in a post more than 100,000 times.
The state-run The Paper said the incident reflected a toxic culture.
“Under the protection of the patriarchal cultural system, it is difficult for the perpetrator to repent of gender-based violence, and this may even give the perpetrator a ‘masculine’ sense of complacency,” the article said.
China Women’s News, published by the All-China Women’s Federation, said in a comment on Saturday that “there can and should only be zero tolerance for such vicious cases of serious violations of women’s rights and interests.”
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