Article Author:
Reuters
Martin Quinn Pollard
BEIJING — A Chinese woman who accused a prominent CCTV host of sexual harassment said Thursday she would seek a new trial the next day in Beijing. Court dismissed her case on appeal.
Beijing-based screenwriter Zhou Xiaoxuan, 29, is one of CCTV's top entertainment show hosts. He denies accusing him of touching and forcibly kissing him when he was working as a lawyer.
Her Zhou accusations posted on her social media in 2018 quickly went viral, and that year she sued her Zhu for damages. In September 2021, after two closed hearings, the Haidian People's Court, a district court in China's capital, dismissed her claim for lack of evidence.
Zhou vowed to appeal, and after further closed-door trials, the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court late Wednesday dismissed all of Zhou's appeals, upholding the original ruling. said he did.
"The court held that the evidence submitted by appellant Zhou was insufficient to prove that Zhu had sexually harassed her, and that the appeal was not substantiated," the court said. said on her official Weibo account.
Her Zhou, speaking to Reuters on Thursday, said her chances of success were "very low" but she would probably apply for a retrial.
"We will discuss with our lawyers and fight for a retrial," Zhou told Reuters. “There may be basically no chance of reopening.
Zhu did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on Wednesday's court ruling. Zhou did not appear at any of the three hearings, she said.
Zhou said she thought the ruling was another blow to China's #MeToo movement, but she wanted to stay positive. "We have already faced so many blows, but as you can see, this blow has not overwhelmed Chinese women and made them give up their claims and demand," he said. She said.
China's #MeToo movement began in 2018 when a Beijing university student openly accused a professor of sexual harassment. It has spread to her NGOs, media and other industries, but has also faced online censorship and official backlash.
China has said it seeks to empower women and protect their rights, and in 2020 enacted a law for the first time to define conduct that may constitute sexual harassment. But activists, including Zhou, say more needs to be done.
"I believe that women's suffering in such situations needs to be seen, because public well-being can be reached by valuing individual suffering," he said. Zhou said in a speech to supporters after the ruling. , a video she posted to her WeChat account on Thursday.
