The video renewed the online debate on sexual harassment and gender-based violence in China, where the conversation about women’s rights has grown in recent years despite pressure from a patriarchal society, Internet censorship and irregular legal support.
“All this could happen to me”
The brazen attack has been widely discussed on Chinese social media, ranking first in Weibo’s most talked about topics.
“All of this could happen to me, it could happen to any of us,” one commenter said in a post he liked more than 100,000 times.
The state press, 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 it can even give the perpetrator a ‘masculine’ sense of self-satisfaction,” he said in an article in opinion.
China Women’s News, published by the All-China Women’s Federation, said in a comment on Saturday that “there can only be and should be zero tolerance for such cruel cases of serious violations of women’s rights and interests.”