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working with article: Feminism in China

Feminist Five
The Feminist Five is a group of five young Chinese feminists who planned a demonstration against sexual harassment on public transportation. They became known after the Chinese goverment arrested them for this demonstration.

In early March 2015, young feminists around China were preparing to distribute stickers with information about gender equality and sexual harassment, such as men groping women on crowded trains and buses, to commemorate the International Women´s Day. But on March 6, 2015 the police arrested dozens of people in Beijing, the southern city of Guangzhou, and the eastern city of Hangzhou. Most of the arrested were released within a few days of the incident. However, Li Maizi (birth name Li Tingting) (李婷婷) (30), Wei Tingting (韦婷婷) (26), Zheng Churan nicknamed “Giant Rabbit” (郑楚然) (25), Wu Rongrong (武嵘嵘) (30), and Wang Man (王曼) (33), were detained on suspicion of "Picking quarrels and provoking trouble". They were held inside the Beijing Haidian Detention Center, where they were interrogated daily. A hashtag campaign #FreetheFive spread news about their arrest quickly and gained support of people from all around the world. By the end of their detention, over two million people had signed petitions that demanded their realese.

The timing of the arrest and detention of the feminist five increased the amount of international attention at this event. Several goverments and NGO s on women´s rights saw their arrest as a provocative and disrespectful action from the Chinese goverment towards the international feminist community. The feminists were arrested right before the International Women’s Day and during Chinese president Xi Jinping´s preparations to co-host UN summit on women’s rights as a celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing. In reaction Hillary Clinton tweeted, “Xi hosting a meeting on women’s rights at the UN while persecuting feminists? Shameless.” Such global diplomatic and media pressure lead to the eventual release of the Feminist Five.

After thirty seven days of detention, on April 13, 2015 the Feminist Five were released on bail. They were the first group of social activists in China who were released from detention all together. Not in prison anymore, the women are still considered criminal suspects by the Chinese government. This restricts their job opportunities, physical mobility and takes their freedom and citizen rights. Their fight for total freedom is not over yet.