Zhou Jun is scheduled to look in courtroom for every other listening to at 2 pm (0600 GMT) Wednesday in Beijing.
Beijing:
A landmark sexual harassment case in China used to be set to go back to courtroom Wednesday after an previous ruling dealt a blow to the rustic’s fledgling #MeToo motion.
Zhou Xiaoxuan stepped ahead in 2018 to accuse state TV host Zhu Jun of forcibly kissing and groping her throughout her 2014 internship on the broadcaster.
While the case of Zhou, now 29, impressed many others to percentage their studies of sexual attack publicly and sparked a social media typhoon, a courtroom dominated final 12 months there used to be inadequate proof to again her allegation.
Zhou appealed, and is scheduled to look in courtroom for every other listening to at 2 pm (0600 GMT) Wednesday in Beijing.
“I nonetheless really feel a bit of scared and dejected now,” she instructed AFP forward of the listening to.
“The technique of the primary trial used to be a deep secondary harm.”
She instructed AFP her felony workforce will center of attention on having access to extra proof such because the police transcripts of interviews along with her folks after she reported the incident — which have been now not integrated within the previous trial.
They also are inquiring for get admission to to surveillance video pictures.
Zhou mentioned that Zhu used to be absent from previous court cases, and that whilst he had sued her for defamation, she used to be now not conscious about additional trends if that’s the case.
‘Too tough’
Zhou, additionally identified by way of the pseudonym Xianzi, at the start sued for a public apology from Zhu and 50,000 yuan ($7,400) in damages.
Her first listening to in December 2020 drew a big crowd and a vital police presence in Beijing.
Reporters from overseas media shops together with AFP had been dragged away by way of police whilst filming the scene.
“The procedure for my case has really been too tough,” Zhou mentioned.
“I fear that different sufferers concern status up for his or her rights after seeing what I’ve skilled.”
Her case in opposition to Zhu used to be at the start filed below the “persona rights” legislation — masking rights with regards to a person’s well being and frame.
But her attorneys later requested for it to be regarded as below a brand new sexual harassment legislation that used to be handed in 2020.
Despite that legislation, many ladies in China are nonetheless reluctant to come back ahead with harassment fees, and it’s uncommon for circumstances to make it to courtroom in a felony device that puts a heavy burden at the claimant.
The nation’s #MeToo motion has stumbled since 2018, when a wave of girls revealed allegations of sexual harassment in opposition to college professors.
Threatened on the time by way of the possibility of an out of control mass motion, web censors briefly started blockading social media hashtags and key phrases, with individuals of the general public incessantly turning to homonyms.
(Except for the headline, this tale has now not been edited by way of NDTV team of workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
Source Link: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chinas-landmark-metoo-case-against-state-tv-host-returns-to-court-report-3241492