Supporters of Detained Feminists in China Petition for Their Release

Supporters of Detained Feminists in China Petition for Their Release

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The supporters in China of five feminists who were in early March are continuing to agitate on their behalf, despite and the censorship of online discussion by the authorities.

On Tuesday, the feminists’ supporters mailed a petition that they said more than 1,100 people had signed — including men and women, students and employees — to public security and other state offices, calling for the women’s release. The petition also demanded that the authorities carry on the work for which the women were detained by issuing warnings against sexual harassment in public transport. The five women — Li Tingting, Wang Man, Wei Tingting, Wu Rongrong and Zheng Churan — were taken into custody on March 6 and 7 as they were preparing to mark International Women’s Day on March 8 by distributing stickers and leaflets protesting molestation in buses and subways.

The petition also says the police action was “illegal in multiple ways.” A version of the petition seen online before the link went dead warned that the women’s detentions harm the “interests of the state,” especially in a year when China wants to be part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. At that event, a landmark declaration said that “women’s rights are human rights,” helping ignite a new women’s movement in China, where gender equality is .

The petition was sent to the Haidian District Public Security Bureau and to the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing, where the women are being held, as well as to district and municipal prosecutors’ offices and the All-China Women’s Federation, the state women’s organization.

“It was put out by citizens and friends,” said the lawyer for Ms. Wei, Wang Qiushi, “because a lot of people really care.” He added that he was not directly involved in the action. An organizer of the petition asked not to be identified, citing fear of reprisals.

Several supporters of the women have reported official pressure to desist. Some university students who joined earlier protests against the detentions said they were warned that their actions could affect their prospects for further education and jobs. And about 10 prominent feminists have left their residences in major cities such as Beijing for smaller towns or for friends’ or relatives’ homes.

“Normal life and new projects are on hold,” one of them, Zhao Sile, said in a message from her hideaway in the south of China, as it was too risky to continue campaigning for now. “We’re still doing bits and pieces, but most everything has stopped.”

Mr. Wang, the lawyer, added that it would become clear this coming weekend — when the women will have spent 30 days in detention — whether they were to be formally charged. They were detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a criminal offense in China.

“If they’re not out this weekend, then it’s because the police are recommending to the prosecutors that they be charged,” Mr. Wang said. “And if it goes to 37 days in detention, then that means the prosecutors have agreed. This is now the really important period coming up.”

The petition says the police have told Ms. Zheng that she will face criminal charges, though they have not yet presented any supporting evidence. Her family only recently received a formal notice from the police that she had been taken into investigative detention, it says. The families of the four other women, the petition says, have not yet been officially notified. Lawyers for the women say they have been maltreated in jail and subjected to lengthy interrogations.

“We have no indications yet how this is going to go,” Mr. Wang said. “But we’re really hoping they come out at the weekend. Otherwise it’s looking bad.”

The women are core members of a small but growing feminist movement in China that is benefiting from the country’s demographic changes: After decades of one-child families in urban areas, many young women who have grown up without having to defer to brothers have high expectations for their lives and react negatively to traditional gender prejudice. The detentions of the five women, in a coordinated sweep in three Chinese cities, set off an outcry in China and abroad.

In a sign of how intently the authorities are monitoring the women’s supporters, online links to the petition were shut down almost as quickly as they popped up on Wednesday. At the time of writing, only one to the petition could be found, on Sina Weibo, posted by the “AntiPETD Feminist PhD Group.” However, the petition was being passed around by private email and in encrypted social media messaging systems.

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