Teenager Shames High School Teacher for Sexual Misconduct

Inspired by a previous high-profile harassment case, a recent graduate shares her story online in hope of finding justice.

By Bibek Bhandari

Emboldened by a Beijing Film Academy student who shared her story of being a victim of sexual harassment on social media, a recent high school graduate from the eastern province of Jiangsu is following in the same footsteps, calling out a teacher whom she says molested her and several other students.

The teenager, surnamed Yan, has accused her biology instructor, Wang Jinlong, of repeated incidents of sexual misconduct, according to local media reports. In an online post published Monday, the female student detailed her experiences at Jintan No. 1 High School in Changzhou: Wang’s lecherous glances, his hands brushing legs, chests, and buttocks, and the feeling of not being able to stand up for herself. The student also chronicled corroborating testaments from her schoolmates about further instances of molestation and uncomfortable private meetings.

“After seeing the heated debate on Weibo following the Beijing incident, I wanted to talk about my city, my school, my teacher,” Yan said of her decision to speak about her experience publicly. “Although I was a coward then, I now want to change that. I hope the principal can look into this and prevent more kids from being hurt.”

Yan deleted the original post but explained in a follow-up statement the same day that she will first attempt to handle the matter privately with the school.

Cases of sexual harassment occasionally make headlines in China and are widely discussed online. Last year, a report by an NGO found that one in three Chinese college students surveyed — nearly 10,000 in total — has been a victim of sexual violence or sexual harassment.

Fearing repercussions at work or at school — Yan herself waited until after she had taken the gaokao, China’s notoriously stressful university entrance exam — many are now finding their voices on social media, which has become a go-to platform for airing grievances, petitioning and protesting, and turning online activism into real-world results. Last month, a netizen uproar prompted the capital’s famous film academy to investigate a female student’s allegations of sexual harassment against her photography professor.

In response to Yan’s post, other students have also come forward with their own accounts of sexual misconduct by the same teacher. Yan Jun, who took Wang’s class in 2013, told Sixth Tone that she had witnessed similar incidents at the school. “Wang would unabashedly hold a girl’s hand to ‘help her write,’” she said. “The girl later told me she felt really disgusted.”

Earlier this year, reports of teachers molesting students in Beijing and Shanghai raised awareness among parents of the risk their children face. One of the teachers was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Last year, angry parents publicly shamed a teacher who allegedly harassed a student in southwestern China’s Guizhou province. And earlier this month, a middle school teacher in the district of Jintan was sentenced to three years for having sex with her 14-year-old student.

In 2014, China’s Ministry of Education listed explicit punishments for teachers’ lewd behavior in its guidelines for promoting morality at educational institutions. Teachers found guilty of sexual harassment or having improper relationships with students — violations which are themselves not clearly defined by the guidelines — will be subject to warnings or even termination. Whether Wang will be prosecuted for the accusations against him remains to be seen. Phone calls to the high school and Jintan’s education bureau on Wednesday went unanswered.

In the meantime, Yan’s father wrote in a stern open letter published in an online forum that he was proud of his daughter’s “bold move” and called on other girls to come forward if they have become victims of harassment themselves. He also warned Wang that he would drag him to court — all the way to Beijing, if need be.

“Don’t underestimate the power of a father,” he wrote. “I hope more parents will come forward to confront the true nature of this beast.” For Wang, he had the following message: “Please don’t insult this profession.”

Additional reporting: Qian Zhecheng; editor: David Paulk.

(Header image: Guo Jijiang/VCG)

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