Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have detained for assault a women's rights activist who launched an online campaign against the sexual abuse of schoolgirls, police said in a statement, sparking widespread opposition online. A screen shot taken on May 31, of the Yulin municipal police department's announcement on Ye Haiyan's administrative detention.
Screen grab via Sina Weibo. Hours after activist Ye Haiyan tweeted on Thursday that she was being attacked in her home, an announcement on Guangxi's Yulin municipal police department's verified Sina Weibo account said she was being held under administrative detention for wounding three women with a knife. The statement, which gave no details on how long Ye would be held, garnered more than 7, comments by Friday, many of them angry.
Ye sent out three tweets around midday on Thursday, calling for help during a raid on her home while she was there alone with her year-old daughter. It's just me and my daughter. The detention came after Ye launched a huge online campaign in response to a child sex scandal at a Hainan primary school, in which women posted pictures of themselves in front of signs which read: "Principals: If you want to get a room, get one with me.
Leave the schoolchildren alone. The police announcement sparked a slew of criticism, thumbs-down emoticons, and calls for more detailed information on Sina Weibo on Friday. Don't you have a sense of crisis? User guren added, in a sentiment that was echoed in a number of other comments: "So our homes can be entered at any time now, and we're not allowed to kick them out?
A series of sex scandals involving underage girls prompted widespread public anger and calls for a review of Chinese laws last week, after official media reported that six primary schoolgirls aged around 10 and 11 were taken by a headmaster and a government official to hotels in Hainan island's Wanning city and sexually assaulted.
