Thousands of people gathered in Central on Wednesday night to demand answers from Hong Kong police over alleged incidents of sexual harassment against female demonstrators arrested during the city’s long-running pro-democracy protests.
Event organizers Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities said just before 10:30pm last night that 30,000 people attended the protest, while police estimates put the number at 11,500, Ming Pao reports.
Protesters wore purple ribbons, shone purple lights, and wrote the words #ProtestToo in lipstick on their forearms, in a nod to the #MeToo movement, which has fought against sexual harassment and assault worldwide.
https://twitter.com/missy_lao/status/1166725990069895168
Organizers accused the city’s police force of trying to humiliate female protesters and deter them from taking part in demonstrations.
The protest comes one week after a female protester appeared at a press conference and accused police of conducting an unnecessary strip search on her, and after another protest in Tin Shui Wai where riot police dragged away female protester, partially undressing her in the process and exposing her to cameras and the crowd.
At least 30,000 gathered to protest against what the demonstrators said the sexual violence by police at the #metoo assembly tonight. #antiELAB #hongkongprotests #StandwithHK #FreedomHK #FreeHK pic.twitter.com/Lu8RLJt4fa
— Jessie Pang (@JessiePang0125) August 28, 2019
In the first incident, a woman speaking under the pseudonym of “Ms Lui” told reporters on Friday that she was arrested for taking part in a protest a few weeks ago, and was taken to a police station where two uniformed female officers ordered her to remove all her clothes and underwear.
Lui was too scared too object, so she complied and tried to cover her private parts with her hands, but one of the officers ordered her not to cover herself, and used a pen to prod her hands and thighs to keep her legs spread.
HKFP reports that Lui was also ordered to squat and stand up three times, but was unable because of an injury she sustained during a protest. After being told to turn around, Lui said she “saw the other officer starring at me with pleasure.”
When the search was over, Lui put on her clothes and left the room to find more than 10 male officers waiting outside the door.
“I was very embarrassed, I really wanted to cry. But I tightened my fist and told myself I cannot cry in front of them, because I knew that I would lose if I cried,” she said. “I want to ask the police: Is it the case that, when we are arrested, we lose all our basic human rights, and we lose the basic respect for women?”
Also present at the press briefing was Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan, who urged the police to explain why a strip search was necessary in Lui’s case, saying such searches are generally only conducted in drug trafficking and weapons possession cases. Chan said they would report the case to the Complaints Against Police Office.
At another press briefing later that day, police representative Suzette Foo said the force would follow up on the report, but defended the use of full-body searches as necessary measures, and insisted that officers must stick to strict guidelines when carrying out such searches.
In the second incident, video footage and photos being circulated online showed a female protester partially undressed while she was being carried away by riot police at a protest in Tin Shui Wai earlier this month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFc2dY7-by0
Linda Wong, a spokeswoman for the organizers of last night’s event, accused police of “using sexual violence as an instrument of intimidation.”
“They intend to silence women through sexual shame and humiliation, violating women’s right to bodily autonomy, as well as every person’s right to lawful assembly,” she was quoted as saying by HKFP, later adding that women “shall not be intimidated by sexual violence into silence.”
