Groping professor shows why China’s universities need a sexual assault complaints system

Wang, a former deputy dean and party secretary of the university’s liberal arts school, was also expelled from the Communist Party. Local police said they were investigating the case.

While Renmin University’s swift action was welcomed, it did not allay the doubts of those who believe that Chinese universities lack mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment.

“I hope this incident will be a turning point that will change the atmosphere of sexual harassment in universities and society and promote the establishment of a normal mechanism against sexual harassment,” said Lao Dongyan, a law professor at Tsinghua University.

In a post on her Weibo account on Tuesday evening, Lao wrote: “In many cases, students do not receive the support they need from their universities. Some universities even put pressure on students not to go public… for fear of damaging their reputation.”

In China, master’s and doctoral students often rely on their supervisors to decide whether they can publish their papers, graduate, or even find a job in academia, which can put them in a precarious position.

In her Weibo post, Lao said the power imbalance between teachers and students means that victims have to remain silent in most cases.

“I hope that next time such an incident occurs, the victim can use the usual channels on campus to seek help rather than exposing themselves to public opinion and risking further harm,” she said.

A statement on Monday said Wang had “seriously violated party discipline, university rules and the professional ethics of lecturers.” It did not mention sexual harassment, nor did it provide details of Wang’s behavior.

“The Teachers’ Ethics and Conduct Code only mentions the prohibition of sexual harassment but does not specify what constitutes sexual harassment, how schools should prohibit it, or how students can seek help,” she said.

Zhou became a feminist icon in China after she went public with allegations of sexual harassment of a television personality in 2018. Her complaints were later dismissed.

The lack of on-campus complaint channels meant that “only a very small number of students who could not tolerate (the harassment) took the risk of slut-shaming and online violence by turning to the public for help,” Zhou said.

“If students have only social media to rely on when dealing with sexual harassment on campus, it is a disgrace and a failure of universities and society.”

Days after Wang’s dismissal, two other universities – one in the western province of Shaanxi and one in the eastern province of Shandong – announced the dismissal of teachers who had been publicly accused of sexual harassment.

Both used similar wording to the Renmin University statement, but did not mention any specific case of sexual abuse.

Unlike some universities in the United States and Hong Kong, no university in mainland China has specific policies to prevent sexual harassment on campus.

Beijing-based Qianqian Law Firm, which promotes women’s rights, published an article on its official WeChat account on Wednesday calling for the establishment of a mechanism to prevent sexual harassment in universities.

“In 2018 and 2019, 60 cases of sexual assault on college campuses were exposed online,” the law firm said, adding that “behind the publicly reported cases lie countless ‘silent majorities.'”

“The concentration of academic power, the lack of regulation of teacher-student relationships, and the culture of gender discrimination that prevails in academic institutions are the main reasons why sexual harassment is ignored, tolerated, and spared from serious punishment.”