#WhereisPengShuai
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has been missing for over 2 weeks after accusing a former government official of sexual assault on social media. The tragedy illuminates just how silenced the #MeToo movement has been in China and is honestly one of the more f*cked up stories to come out of the sports world this year…..Who knew it could get worse?
The Chinese government pretending to be Peng Shuai
Break Point
On November 2 Peng Shuai accused former Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli, of forcing her to have sex after inviting her to play tennis with him and his wife. She posted the allegations on Weibo, a Chinese social media and blogging platform.
30 minutes later, the post had been deleted.
She has not been seen or heard from since.
Peng Shuai’s sudden disappearance is beyond suspicious. Days after the post was taken down, #WhereisPengShuai began appearing on Twitter, and many suspected the worst. By November 14, The Women’s Tennis Association’s Chairman and Ceo, Steve Simon, stepped in with a statement:
“The recent events in China concerning a WTA player, Peng Shuai, are of deep concern…Peng Shuai, and all women, deserve to be heard, not censored. Her accusation about the conduct of a former Chinese leader involving a sexual assault must be treated with the utmost seriousness. In all societies, the behavior she alleges that took place needs to be investigated, not condoned or ignored. We commend Peng Shuai for her remarkable courage and strength in coming forward. Women around the world are finding their voices so injustices can be corrected.
We expect this issue to be handled properly, meaning the allegations must be investigated fully, fairly, transparently and without censorship.
Other tennis stars, like Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, jumped in to tweet their support, and media attention forced the Chinese authorities to respond. On November 17, the state media outlet CGTN tweeted a screenshot of an email Peng Shuai had supposedly sent to Steve Simon.
I mean just look at this thing:
I don’t think they could have made a more fake-sounding email if they tried. It’s impressively bad.
Steve didn’t buy it either. He clapped back with this immediately:
"The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts. I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her...The WTA and the rest of the world need independent and verifiable proof that she is safe. I have repeatedly tried to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail. Peng Shuai must be allowed to speak freely, without coercion or intimidation from any source. Her allegation of sexual assault must be respected, investigated with full transparency and without censorship. The voices of women need to be heard and respected, not censored nor dictated to.”
In an interview, Steve further threatened to pull business out of China indefinitely. This comes after the country committed over $1 billion to the WTA and WTA Finals tournament. Outside of tennis, China is set to host the Olympics in February, but public scrutiny may see countries pulling out of the competition. Even the UN is starting to demand answers on Peng’s whereabouts.
By Friday my Twitter feed was practically chanting “show us Peng Shuai”. In what appears to be a desperate attempt at buying more time, an employee of Chinese state TV posted photos and videos of Peng. It’s not abundantly clear when the images were taken.
Again, Steve called bullshit. In his words (and our thoughts), “…, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference. This video alone is insufficient.”
So the question remains, where the hell is Peng Shuai?
#ChinaToo
Peng Shuai is one of the top athletes in China. She was ranked as the number 1 doubles player in 2014, is a 3-time Olympian, and won titles at both Wimbleton and the French Open.
She is also a woman.
Feminism has long struggled to get its bearings in China, though it’s not for lack of trying. The #MeToo movement plowed through Hollywood in 2017, and by 2018 Chinese advocates had jumped on board. While we were pushing for trials, the Chinese movement was struggling to get their message beyond censorship. To this day, the government removes online posts about sexual assault. Accusations are promptly deleted, and feminist accounts are banned. Even innocuous code names like “rice bunny” have been found out and removed from online platforms.
Though it was an uphill battle, Zhou Xiaoxuan did successfully bring her case to trial after posting on Weibo in 2018. The case was a flagship moment in the movement, but, unfortunately, she lost the trial in September. The court claimed not enough evidence was presented to determine whether an assault had happened.
Her loss is a blow to an already fragmented movement where feminists are isolated and afraid to speak out.
Unsurprisingly, the court system in China is harsher on victims than it is here. They have an extremely high bar for evidence, meaning photographs or recordings of the assault are needed for a conviction. He said/she said just doesn’t cut it.
As a result, very few cases have even made it to trial. A report from Yale Law School found that a total of 83 lawsuits concerning sexual harassment were filed in China between 2018-2020. Of those, only 6 were brought forward by victims.
That’s right, 77 of the 83 cases were filed by the harassers, most of which were looking for damages against victims or employers for wrongful termination due to the assault.
One of the saddest parts of Peng Shuai’s statement is how much she blames herself for what happened. She mentions that she has no evidence and calls herself a hypocrite, noting that she had an on and off relationship with Zhang.
Unfortunately, it’s common for victims to remain in contact with their assailants. There’s also no right way to heal from trauma. A 2020 University of New Hampshire study by Matthew Moschella found that many sexual assault survivors seek risky dating partners or remain in abusive relationships after their attack. If you’re forced to have sex with someone, it’s only reasonable to question whether you had feelings for them in the first place. Most victims know their abusers, and rape is often a result of coercion (not physical force), meaning it's easier to make excuses for behaviour and think it was your fault.
These are realities we understand because of the #MeToo movement and victim advocacy - things that are harder to find in China.
Even with the progress we’ve made, court systems in North America have limited tolerance for mistakes made by a victim. In trials, we pick apart their actions over and over again until we find enough inconsistencies to make an acquittal. We put them under a microscope of scrutiny to decide if they’re worthy of our sympathy.
In China, that microscope is even bigger.
Paranoia, Paranoia Everyone's Coming To Get Me
I recently wrote about horror and true crime as catharsis. Women are flocking to stories of brutal murder under the guise of protecting themselves. Podcasts tout tips like maintaining “if I go missing folders” or alternating the paths you take home. To me, it seems like good sense.
A good friend shared an article with the exact opposite view. The writer claims our love of true crime is making us paranoid, and, as a result, causing more victim-blaming. When we fixate on the best way to behave in a situation, we’re quicker to cast judgement when someone reacts differently. For example, I’m sure many of us assume we’d never go back to an abuser. The reality is that most victims do.
Interestingly, while we hear more and more gory stories in the media, murder stats have gone down. The article poses that we’re fear-mongering for the sake of entertainment. If murder is less of a threat, why do we hear about it all the time?
I see it differently.
It’s not perfect, but strides have been made in how we talk about victims. We’ve gotten better at defining sex crimes, and more and more people are willing to report. When murders happen in underrepresented populations, there are advocates trying to bring awareness to the systemic factors at play. Conversations are being had openly about the dangers of walking outside as a woman, leaving drinks unattended, and signs of abusive relationships. Recently, a teen girl was saved from a kidnapper by using a hand signal she learnt on TikTok for victims of domestic violence.
These are steps forward that wouldn’t have happened without the rise of true crime and the widening conversation about how victims are treated.
While our world is getting safer, the numbers aren’t (and likely won’t ever be) zero. Call me paranoid, but “fewer murders” is not enough to make me feel safe. Moreover, sexual assault numbers are almost impossible to compare since reporting is so inconsistent. Lesser chargers, like street harassment, are on the rise in the pandemic, and cases like Sarah Everard’s show us how many dangers still exist in the systems we think are keeping us safe.
Until I can walk home without being yelled at by a man on the street, I won’t stop seeing a need to take additional precautions.
More importantly, whether true crime is making us paranoid or not, these women deserve to have their stories told. What would happen if we let Peng Shuai fall off the face of the earth? In ignoring cases we reaffirm that atrocities against women don’t matter.
In China, that’s exactly what’s happening.
It’s easy to scrutinize true crime or the #MeToo movement for being sensationalized when we have the benefit of hearing these stories. There are places where censorship is preventing any conversation and, to me, that’s a more important issue than if my favourite podcast is making me extra jumpy. That we can even debate about hearing too many examples of sexual assault is a win.
If there is a silver lining in this story, it is the unwavering support of the WTA. In sports, leagues are notoriously cagey about taking a stand. The NHL, for example, went above and beyond to protect a video coach after he sexually assault a player. The NCAA continues to allow known predators from other schools to transfer into their programs. Even other women’s leagues like the NWSL have been hiding abuse scandals from the public.
As tragic as the circumstances are, it’s refreshing to see a league take financial risk for the well-being of an athlete. Steve has been quoted saying that Peng’s safety is “bigger than business.”
Until every company thinks the same way, I’ll be listening to and sharing victims’ stories every chance I get. Paranoia be damned.
