Sexual Violence and Unworthy Victims in Postsocialist China

Sexual violence or sexual assault is defined by the World Health Organization as sexual acts or attempts via violence or coercion, directed against a person’s sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim. In China, although sexual harassment was included in the “Law to Protect Women’s Rights” in 2005, it provided no legal definition of, or punishment for, the act, only stipulating the nature of sexual harassment as a civil affair, rather than a criminal violation. Based on interviews and a survey of discourses and legal cases, this paper investigates this issue and uncovers the cultural system of gender power hierarchy that creates injustice and inequity associated with sexual violence.