A violent attack in the Chinese capital of Beijing on the evening of April 3 has set Chinese social media ablaze, calling attention to the indifference that female Chinese citizens encounter when trying to seek help after — or even during — an assault. Surveillance footage from the Yitel Hotel in an affluent neighborhood in Beijing shows a man dragging a woman down a hallway at around 11 o’clock at night. The man approaches a woman, grabs her neck, and pulls her hair as she struggles to escape. A staff member approaches but does not intervene, while several other passers-by make no attempt to help or call police. Finally, a bystander steps forward to grab the woman’s arm, and the man runs away.
According to the victim, who uses the online nom de plume Wanwan, officers checked surveillance footage and took witness statements following the incident. But when she later called the local police station to ask about the investigation, Wanwan said she was told that investigators would not be available until the next week. It might have become yet another case where citizen and police indifference compelled a Chinese woman to endure abuse, with no consequences for the abuser. Instead, social media made the difference between police action and inaction. Wanwan took to the microblogging site Weibo and uploaded a video of herself commenting on the surveillance footage, writing that her assailant had asked for her room number and when she refused to tell him, became violent. She added that the hotel worker who hovered nearby not only failed to help, but also asked the both of them to quiet down.
The video promptly went viral; on sharing site Youku, it received over 7 million views. On Weibo, thousands of users reacted angrily to the victim’s complaint that police continued to deny her information on the case. They called her their “sister” and told her to not be afraid. One commenter wrote that “police inaction” in response to violence against women “is a fact. So many people have responded powerfully to this case because they have had similar experiences with police.” Another noted that Beijing, China’s capital and its richest city, should have some of the best law enforcement personnel. “If police are being so absurd in a big city, what is happening in more backwards cities?”“If police are being so absurd in a big city,
what is happening in more backwards cities?” Full story...
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According to the victim, who uses the online nom de plume Wanwan, officers checked surveillance footage and took witness statements following the incident. But when she later called the local police station to ask about the investigation, Wanwan said she was told that investigators would not be available until the next week. It might have become yet another case where citizen and police indifference compelled a Chinese woman to endure abuse, with no consequences for the abuser. Instead, social media made the difference between police action and inaction. Wanwan took to the microblogging site Weibo and uploaded a video of herself commenting on the surveillance footage, writing that her assailant had asked for her room number and when she refused to tell him, became violent. She added that the hotel worker who hovered nearby not only failed to help, but also asked the both of them to quiet down.
The video promptly went viral; on sharing site Youku, it received over 7 million views. On Weibo, thousands of users reacted angrily to the victim’s complaint that police continued to deny her information on the case. They called her their “sister” and told her to not be afraid. One commenter wrote that “police inaction” in response to violence against women “is a fact. So many people have responded powerfully to this case because they have had similar experiences with police.” Another noted that Beijing, China’s capital and its richest city, should have some of the best law enforcement personnel. “If police are being so absurd in a big city, what is happening in more backwards cities?”“If police are being so absurd in a big city,
what is happening in more backwards cities?” Full story...
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