A toxic cocktail of social and political factors keep harassment discussions from gaining traction
In October, 2017, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a sexual predator—and the allegations haven’t stopped since. The ripples of America’s post-Weinstein reckoning with sexual assault in show business and society have since been lapping at China’s shores, but so far haven’t made it inland.
As Western audiences grapple with one celebrity after another being outed as a sexual predator of some kind, rumblings could be heard from Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Hong Kong, Vera Lui, the 23-year-old athlete dubbed the “Queen of Hurdles,” revealed that she’d been sexually assaulted at 13 by a former coach. In speaking up, her goal was to raise awareness in the manner of the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and assault that has taken hold on social media overseas.
Lui’s former school immediately offered its support and suspended the coach in question. In the following weeks, Louisa Mak Ming-sze, the 2015 Miss Hong Kong, also came forward with allegations, and Alfred Chan, the chairperson of Hong Kong’s equal opportunities commission, penned an op-ed in the South China Morning Post pointing out deep-rooted sexual harassment throughout Hong Kong society. In November, Bey Logan, a Hong Kong-based producer and long-time associate of Harvey Weinstein, became the focal point of abuse reports in the film industry after a number of actresses came forward to allege misconduct.
#MeWhere? is a story from our issue, “Fast Forward.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.