2024-07-28
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Sexual harassment can easily occur between tutors and students in colleges and universities due to the serious imbalance in power between the two parties. (Photo by Liang Shuyi)
The girl in the video is wearing a white mask, holding her ID card in her right hand, and looking directly at the camera while speaking. She is Wang, a doctoral student at the School of Literature of Renmin University of China. She reported her supervisor, Professor Wang Guiyuan, the former Party Secretary and Vice Dean of the School of Literature, for forcibly molesting her and demanding sex with her.
On the evening of July 21, 2024, this 58-minute video was released on social media, presenting audio evidence of Wang Guiyuan sexually harassing Wang. The video quickly reached tens of millions of views.
On the morning of July 22, the National People's Congress issued a statement, saying that a working group had been set up immediately. "The report was true." At 7 o'clock that evening, the National People's Congress issued a notice to expel Wang Guiyuan from the party, revoke his professor title, cancel his qualification as a graduate student supervisor, revoke his qualification to serve as a teacher at the National People's Congress, and terminate his employment relationship. At the same time, the higher authorities were requested to revoke his teaching qualifications and report the problem clues to the relevant authorities in accordance with the law.
Among the campus sexual harassment incidents that have received social attention in recent years, the National People's Congress is considered to be the most prompt in terms of handling time.
However, a teacher at Renmin University expressed his feelings to a reporter from Southern Weekend, asking why such things had to become "incidents" before they could be dealt with. In his opinion, this would cause great harm to both students and the school.
On the evening of July 25, the publicity department of the National People’s Congress responded to a reporter from Southern Weekend, saying that Wang had not reported the situation to the school before reporting it online.
In recent years, after students post on the Internet and society pays attention to the matter, the school will pay attention to it and deal with it. This has become the norm for sexual harassment incidents in colleges and universities.
As early as 2014, some scholars jointly wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education, suggesting that a regular anti-sexual harassment mechanism be established in colleges and universities. However, ten years later, this mechanism has not yet been established.
Feng Yuan, the initiator of the Beijing Weiping Women's Support Hotline, has been paying attention to this field for a long time. In her opinion, in recent years, there has been progress in both case handling and legal provisions on sexual harassment, "but this progress is far from enough compared to the actual needs." She hopes that the sexual harassment mechanism in colleges and universities can be introduced as soon as possible, "the sooner it is introduced, the sooner students can more effectively protect their rights and interests."
Influenced by the incident of a female doctoral student at Renmin University reporting her supervisor, Xiaoyu (pseudonym), a graduate of the School of Journalism and Communication of Shaanxi Normal University, exposed a chat record between herself and Wang Anzhong in the alumni group on the evening of July 22, accusing him of sexually harassing her. Wang Anzhong is an associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Shaanxi Normal University and Xiaoyu's graduation thesis supervisor.
After the incident fermented on social media, Shaanxi Normal University announced the results of the handling within two days. At around 23:00 on July 25, the school issued a situation report, stating that Wang Anzhong had seriously violated the professional ethics of teachers, and revoked his title of associate professor, cancelled his qualification as a graduate student supervisor, revoked his qualification to hold a teaching position at the school, and terminated his employment relationship.
In the absence of anti-sexual harassment agencies in colleges and universities, which department is responsible for handling such incidents? In the reports released by the National People's Congress and Shaanxi Normal University, both mentioned the establishment of a "special working group" to investigate. Previously, most of the college reports on such incidents also mentioned the establishment of a "special working group."
In Xiaoyu's experience, after she exposed Wang Anzhong's sexual harassment, her former school counselor, Ms. Lu, added her WeChat to communicate with her, hoping that she would remove the relevant information online. Subsequently, a leader of the college and a staff member of the investigation team also added Xiaoyu's WeChat.
Among them, a teacher from the school's teacher work department, as the head of the investigation team, said that he would communicate with her on behalf of the school's special working group. At about 7:00 a.m. on July 24, the teacher verified the situation with Xiaoyu over the phone. He said that Shaanxi Normal University had already called the police, and Xiaoyu could contact the police to continue verifying the situation.
However, Xiaoyu was not clear about the specific members of the investigation team and the school's internal investigation process. She first saw the school's notice issued on the evening of the 25th on the Internet.
The publicity department of the National People's Congress responded to the Southern Weekend reporter that the special working group for the Wang Guiyuan incident is composed of the working department of the school's discipline inspection and supervision agency, the Party Committee's Teacher Work Department, the Personnel Department, etc.
Peking University has had two reports of sexual harassment, and the matter was handled by the university's Teachers' Professional Ethics and Discipline Committee. According to the Peking University official website, two-thirds of the committee members are professors of the university, and one-third are administrative leaders of the university.
Zhou Xiaoli, a professor at the School of Education of Central China Normal University, once pointed out in his paper that judging from the procedures and results of colleges and universities in handling campus sexual harassment incidents in recent years, the university disciplinary committee is currently the main functional department.
However, in practice, this complaint channel may fail.
After Xiaoyu exposed Wang Anzhong's sexual harassment, a female student approached her and said that in 2015, she took the printed chat records to the Shaanxi Normal University to report Wang Anzhong's sexual harassment. At that time, the school's disciplinary committee said it would give a reply, but in addition to suspending Wang Anzhong's classes for the next semester, the college never contacted her for consultation.
Wu Ming (pseudonym), a teacher at Beihang University, told Southern Weekend that under the current mechanism, internal supervision is not completely ineffective. However, when the person being reported has a special identity, such as a high-ranking title or academic achievements, it will be more difficult for the school to handle the situation.
As early as 10 years ago, Feng Yuan participated in the drafting and signing of an open letter proposing the establishment of a mechanism to prevent and control sexual harassment in colleges and universities.
The incident started around July 2014, when two netizens reported online that Wu Chunming, a professor at the History Department of Xiamen University, took advantage of opportunities such as publishing papers and ensuring admission to graduate school to seduce and sexually harass female students.
On the eve of Teachers' Day that year, two open letters signed by 256 teachers, scholars and students from domestic and foreign universities were sent to the president of Xiamen University and the Minister of Education respectively. The open letters called for a thorough investigation of the sexual harassment incident at Xiamen University and suggested that the Ministry of Education take this incident as an opportunity to formulate and issue the "Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Sexual Harassment in Higher Education Institutions". The letter also drafted a text of the system proposal.
Although the Ministry of Education did not specifically respond to this open letter, Feng Yuan noticed the Ministry of Education's attention to the issue of sexual harassment. More than half a month after the open letter was sent, on September 29, 2014, the Ministry of Education issued the "Opinions on Establishing and Improving a Long-term Mechanism for the Construction of Teachers' Ethics in Colleges and Universities", which listed seven behaviors of college teachers violating teachers' ethics - these are called the "Seven Red Lines". One of them is "sexually harassing students or having improper relationships with students", which is the first time that the Ministry of Education has mentioned "sexual harassment" in its documents to colleges and universities.
The opinions also stipulate punishment measures for those who violate the "Seven Red Rules". Depending on the severity of the violation, they may be given a warning, recorded a demerit, have their professional and technical positions reduced, have their professional and technical positions or administrative positions revoked, have their employment contracts terminated or be fired. Those who seriously violate laws and disciplines must be promptly transferred to relevant departments.
In October of the same year, the All-China Women's Federation and the China Women's Studies Association held a "Seminar on the Mechanism for Preventing and Stopping Sexual Harassment in Colleges and Universities" in Beijing, attended by representatives from 22 colleges and universities that have established women/gender research and training bases.
The All-China Women's Federation and the China Women's Studies Association put forward eight suggestions on how colleges and universities can prevent and stop sexual harassment. The delegates also called on the 22 colleges and universities to take the lead in taking measures to implement these eight suggestions.
The topic of sexual harassment in colleges and universities once again sparked a large-scale heated discussion in 2018. After the Chen Xiaowu incident at Beihang University was exposed, on January 4, 2018, students from Beihang University issued a joint letter calling on the school to introduce sexual harassment prevention and complaint measures.
At that time, The Paper counted that as of January 15, 2018, alumni and students from more than 40 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University, Sichuan University, Wuhan University, Xiamen University, and Fudan University, had called for the establishment of a mechanism to prevent and control sexual harassment.
In April 2018, then Peking University President Lin Jianhua chaired a meeting to discuss the establishment of an anti-sexual harassment system on campus. According to information on Peking University's official website, in early January of that year, the school commissioned the Peking University Center for Chinese and Foreign Women's Issues to organize experts from the Department of Sociology, the School of Law, and the School of Education to draft the "Peking University Anti-Sexual Harassment Regulations (Draft)" and held multiple rounds of discussions with the heads of the Faculty Affairs Department, the Student Affairs Department and other school departments.
At the meeting, Lin Jianhua emphasized that the next step was to solicit opinions from teachers and students, continue to improve the content of the regulations, and submit them to the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the University for deliberation.
A Southern Weekend reporter learned from Wu Ming that in 2018, Beihang University also proposed a draft of relevant regulations and organized discussions among scholars on campus.
For two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020, the Ministry of Education’s official website publicly responded to the proposals of the National People’s Congress representatives to establish an anti-sexual harassment mechanism in colleges and universities. In the response, the Ministry of Education mentioned that it would guide local governments and colleges and universities to pilot the establishment of anti-sexual harassment committees or related working bodies, and improve the system norms based on the results of the pilot work.
However, as of now, Southern Weekend reporters have not found any public information about any university or local government that has issued specific regulations regarding sexual harassment.
In 2018, Xu Kaibin, a professor at the School of Foreign Languages of Hunan Normal University, was a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Wuhan University. At that time, he launched a "National College Teachers' Anti-Sexual Harassment Declaration", which was signed by 56 scholars from Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Central China Normal University and other universities.
Since returning to China to teach in 2015, Xu Kaibin has been concerned about sexual harassment on campus. He recalled to a reporter from Southern Weekend that when he was studying for a doctorate in the United States, he received a three-day training organized by the school and the graduate school as soon as he entered the school. Since doctoral students have to be teaching assistants for undergraduates, the training content includes the requirements for the role of teachers, and they cannot sexually harass students. From then on, he remembered, "This is absolutely a taboo, otherwise the consequences will be very serious."
Sexual harassment exists to varying degrees on college campuses around the world. In 2015, a report by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the National Institute of Justice of the Ministry of Justice showed that among undergraduate students at 27 American universities, about 23.1% of female students and 5.4% of male students had been sexually assaulted.
After graduating with a Ph.D., Xu Kaibin taught in the United States. As a teacher, he must participate in school training every three years, which also includes content on anti-sexual harassment on campus. The training content is placed in the school's online course. Every teacher must study and take an online test before continuing to teach.
Feng Yuan also mentioned her experience as a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the 1990s in a media interview. The welcome handbook the school gave her included maps, nearby places to eat, drink and have fun, how to park, and what to do if you are sexually harassed. "My first reaction was, is sexual harassment at Harvard so serious? In fact, it's not that sexual harassment at Harvard is serious, but that it takes this matter very seriously, and tells you where you can seek help and where you can file a complaint if such a thing happens."
Liu Wen, a Ph.D. from the Institute of Higher Education at East China Normal University, conducted research on sexual harassment prevention and control at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.
In this school, when students are sexually harassed, they can apply to the school's Gender Equality Education Committee (abbreviated as "Gender Equality Committee"), which will set up an investigation team based on the identity or position of the person being complained. The team members are composed of experts from inside and outside the school who have experience in dealing with sexual harassment. The identity of the investigator is not disclosed, and the complainant, the person being complained, and the witness are interviewed in isolation. After the investigation, the Gender Equality Committee will issue a ruling stating the matters, reasons, and handling opinions, and submit it to the relevant ruling department.
Regarding the question of whether teachers and students can have romantic relationships, Zhu Guangxing, associate professor at the School of Criminal Justice of China University of Political Science and Law, found that many American universities regulate teacher-student relationships at the school level for risk avoidance and other considerations. Moreover, more and more universities tend to adopt stricter policies to restrict or prohibit teacher-student relationships.
Zhu Guangxing explained to the Southern Weekend reporter that teachers and students are both adults and are attracted to each other, so it is entirely possible for the two to fall in love. Even so, this situation should be regulated. In addition to the right of both parties to freely fall in love, the interests of others must also be considered.
She pointed out that teachers involved in teacher-student relationships are likely to abuse their personal rights and take care of students they are in a relationship with, which will have a negative impact on other students. Even if the teacher is objective and fair, other students will subjectively think that the teacher has given special care to the student they are in a relationship with, and that they are being treated unfairly. "Two people can like each other, but they cannot fall in love during the teacher-student relationship," said Zhu Guangxing.
In fact, the practice of relatively prohibiting love between teachers and students has been adopted by some domestic universities. For example, Beihang University and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences stipulate that if a teacher "falls in love with a student with whom he or she has a vested interest", the teacher will be subject to a "one-vote veto" on his or her teacher's ethics.
According to Feng Yuan, at least two universities in China have formulated anti-sexual harassment regulations, which have been reviewed and approved by the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the university, but ultimately failed to be issued.
Why has the anti-sexual harassment system in colleges and universities been delayed in being introduced? Liu Minghui, a gender studies expert and retired professor of China Women's University, once asked a leader of a well-known university about this. The leader explained that the school is worried that after graduation, students will feel that their teachers were strict with them or criticized them during their time at school, and will falsely accuse the teachers of sexual harassment. "Some people also think that if a school takes the lead, it means that the school has a serious problem of sexual harassment," said Liu Minghui.
Wu Ming participated in a discussion on anti-sexual harassment regulations at Beihang University in 2018. Participants all supported the establishment of such a system, but there were still disputes over specific details, such as whether teacher-student relationships should be prohibited, what level of sexual harassment is considered sexual harassment, and how to set up reporting channels within the school.
He feels that, at the university level, anti-sexual harassment, although an important matter, is not that important. “It cannot bring resources and benefits to the university and is definitely a marginal (matter).”
Liu Minghui believes that the fundamental reason is that the law is still imperfect. The introduction of the Civil Code in 2020 and the revision of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights in 2022 both provide legal regulations for sexual harassment.
However, the legal provisions on the prevention and treatment of sexual harassment on campus are not detailed enough. The Civil Code stipulates that schools should take measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment by abusing power and subordinate relationships. The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests also clearly states that schools should establish a work system to effectively prevent and scientifically deal with sexual assault and sexual harassment.
In comparison, the provisions on employers’ prevention and prevention of sexual harassment are more specific. In the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, Article 25 lists eight measures that employers should take, including formulating rules and regulations, clarifying responsible institutions or personnel, setting up complaint telephones and email addresses, establishing and improving investigation mechanisms, and protecting the privacy of the parties involved.
"This clause is a mandatory regulation and a legal obligation for employers," Liu Minghui stressed. Within two years of the implementation of the revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights, she had assisted 14 companies in establishing corresponding systems and provided training for their employees.
Liu Minghui pointed out that the administrative and civil responsibilities of colleges and universities should be further clarified and accountability should be strengthened. When the Ministry of Education issued the "Red Seven Articles" in 2014, it stipulated that an accountability mechanism should be established to hold the principals of colleges and universities accountable for failing to supervise teachers who seriously violate professional ethics. In this regard, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests also stipulates that if a school fails to take necessary measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment, the superior authority or competent department shall order it to correct the situation; if it refuses to correct the situation or the circumstances are serious, the directly responsible supervisor shall be punished. In addition, in this case, the procuratorate can also initiate public interest litigation.
Liu Minghui also hopes that the Ministry of Education can continue to issue documents to allow schools to establish a special mechanism for preventing and controlling sexual harassment. She noticed that in the current documents of the education department, the topic of preventing sexual harassment is often mentioned in the teacher ethics standards. In her opinion, this is a bit superficial, "This is not just a moral issue, it has risen to the legal level."
Xu Kaibin also feels that, given the national conditions, the establishment of an anti-sexual harassment mechanism in colleges and universities needs to be promoted by the Ministry of Education. In his opinion, it is not feasible to completely rely on the internal mechanism of colleges and universities to solve the problem of sexual harassment. He suggested that the Ministry of Education formulate detailed campus anti-sexual harassment rules and regulations and distribute them to all types of schools across the country so that all students and teachers can understand the details. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and the Provincial Department of Education should also set up a special office to receive reports of sexual harassment. If students do not respond to their feedback to the school, or are worried about retaliation for reporting on campus, they can report directly to the Ministry of Education or the Provincial Department of Education. "The higher-level competent authorities will urge the handling, and the school must pay attention to it."
Southern Weekend reporter Han Qian Southern Weekend intern Gu Jingnan
Editor: Qian Wei
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