BEIJING: A professor in China accused of sexually harassing students underhis supervision has been removed from teaching posts by a top Beijinguniversity, in a case that has sparked national media coverage and anascent #MeToo movement in the country, reportedReuters.
Beihang University said in a statement on its official Weibo account lateon Thursday that an investigation found the professor, Chen Xiaowu, hadengaged in “sexual harassment behavior” that seriously violatedprofessional ethics and the school’s code of conduct.
The Beijing Youth Daily had previously reported Chen saying he had done“nothing illegal”, but Reuters was unable to reach him for comment as theuniversity declined to provide Chen’s telephone number and said he wasrefusing interviews.
The university’s investigation was launched after former Beihang studentLuo Xixi publicly accused Chen of sexually harassing her 13 years ago in anonline blog that promptly went viral after it was posted on Jan. 1.
In the post, Luo said Chen made an unwanted sexual advance after luring herto his sister’s house, and that he only relented after she burst into tearsand said she was a virgin. Luo also accused Chen of harassing several otherstudents.
Luo, who now lives in the United States, said she was inspired by the#MeToo social media movement that started in October in the wake of sexualmisconduct allegations in the U.S. entertainment industry, and encouragedothers to come forward and share their own experiences under the hashtag.
Luo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Chen’sdismissal.
Luo’s allegations, combined with another public post from a PekingUniversity graduate, have inspired students from more than 50 universitiesto issue open letters demanding more effective oversight and a reportingsystem to deal with sexual harassment on their campuses.
But unlike #MeToo in the United States, the campaign has mostly been spreadby word of mouth and has struggled to gain traction on social media, inpart because Chinese internet censors have been swift to take down the openletters.
Instances of campus sexual harassment have surfaced regularly in recentyears, but are usually reported in China’s state-run media as isolatedcases rather than part of a wider systemic problem.
In its statement, Beihang said Chen was removed as vice-president of theuniversity’s graduate school and that his credentials as a teacher andpost-graduate supervisor were revoked.
Zhang Leilei, a Guangzhou-based women’s rights activist involved in thecampaign against campus sexual harassment, said the response from Beihangwas clear and swift and represented progress.
She said the campaign would continue to raise the issue’s profile in themedia so that people would become more ready to speak out, as they havethrough the #MeToo movement.
On Friday, a student from another university in Beijing came forward withaccusations of sexual harassment against her professor in an online post,saying she was emboldened by Beihang’s handling of Luo’s complaint.
“Right now it seems we may be reaching a tipping point on this particularissue,” Zhang told Reuters. “We hope to use it as a window to begin makingchange.”