Detained in China for protesting sexism

March 11, 2015

Last weekend, the Chinese government detained a group of feminist activists before they could take part in an International Women's Day protest against sexual harassment on the country's public transportation system. The five young women--Tingting Li, Man Wang, Tingting Wei, Rongrong Wu and Churan Zheng--have devoted themselves to mission of raising gender awareness and are leading a new wave of feminist activism in China.

Manman Lu, a Chinese student studying in the U.S., is asking for international support to demand the immediate release of her friends and fellow activists.

I AM a graduate student and activist from China studying in the U.S. I am reaching out to you for help because the Beijing police took my friends! They are among the five prominent feminist activists who were detained on March 6.

We believe that they were detained for planning to distribute stickers for a campaign against sexual harassment on the public transportation on International Women's Day. The campaign was planned to support a bill against sexual harassment that was to be submitted to the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress.

My friends, Maizi and Churan, are well-known Chinese feminist activists. They initiated the "Occupy Men's Toilets" campaign for more public toilets for women. Through their long-term efforts, more public toilets for women have become available.

They are altruistic activists who stand against gender oppression and actively advocate for disabled people, sexual minorities, working-class laborers and sex workers. These activists make tremendous contributions to equal employment, equal education and sexual harassment prevention. These five women are at the center of Chinese feminist movement.

Feminists activists organize an "Occupy Men's Toilets" in Guangzhou City
Feminists activists organize an "Occupy Men's Toilets" in Guangzhou City

Maizi and Churan are also my close friends. As a graduate student, I depend on them to keep me grounded as I think about feminist theory, and when I visited Guangzhou, Churan took me to visit women workers and told me that good theories need to connect to what is happening on the ground. Maizi helped me go through my presentation slides before my master's thesis defense.

We went to a grassroots feminist school together. We did theater workshops on lesbian intimate violence together. Maizi inspired me and continually encourages me to continue feminist scholarship. Every time I feel frustrated by graduate school, she always told me to take good care of myself and reassured me that anything you study can contribute to our movement, don't worry.

The activists are demanding transparency from the police who arrested these women. Please help me bring attention to this issue.

What you can do

Sign this petition demanding that the Chinese government immediately release the five feminist activists. For more information about the campaign, visit the Free Chinese Feminists Facebook page.

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