Beijing Women's Federation

Workers put up a poster featuring prevention of sexual harassment at a subway station in Beijing. [Beijing Women's Federation]

Promotional posters at a parking lot at Beijing's Tiantongyuan North Subway Station

Videos are played at different subway stations in Beijing to warn against sexual harassment.

Posters saying no to assailants are seen at traffic hubs in the capital.

Recently, posters and promotion videos, themed "saying no to sexual harassment," have been seen at eight traffic hubs in Beijing — Dongzhimen, Beijing South Railway Station, Xiyuan, Songjiazhuang, Sihui, Tiantongyuan North, Qinghe and Libafang — and the parking lots in Tiantongyuan North, Tongzhoubeiyuan and Libafang. Sponsored by the Beijing Women's Federation (BWF) and Beijing Gonglian Transport Transit Construction Co, a State-owned company engaged in urban road and facilities construction management, a city-wide publicity campaign was launched in the capital by putting up advertising hoardings at places with a good flow of people and excellent visibility.

In recent years, there have been cases of women being sexually harassed on buses or subways in summer. In order to enhance social security and protect women's rights and interests, BWF launched the preventing sexual harassment campaign in 2017, calling on victims not to be silent and encouraging the public not to be indifferent.

"The advertising hoardings against sexual harassment on the handrails in the subway are useful," a netizen said, "it is a reminder to women passengers and a warning to those lawbreakers. I felt warm to see this kind of ads on subways."

The campaign, now in its third year, has raised the public's awareness of preventing and stopping sexual harassment. It was rated as one of the top 10 news affecting gender equality in the country in 2017, and was on the Weibo top search list in the next year. In 2020, BWF chose Beijing's largest comprehensive traffic hub Sihui as the campaign's major promotional station, which integrates rail transit, long-distance passenger transport and urban public transport.

On one hand, the posters encouraged victims to defend their rights when being sexually harassed and urged the public to speak out and jointly and quickly fight misconducts. On the other hand, multiple tips were offered on what to do when encountering assailants.

Opposing sexual harassment is the common responsibility of the whole society. The Civil Code, which came into effect on January 1, 2021, clearly provides anti-sexual harassment measures in its Article 1010, stipulating that in the event of sexual harassment against another person's will by words, characters, images, or physical acts, the victim has the right to request the actor to assume civil liability according to law. The public should work together to provide a civilized and harmonious transportation environment and safeguard women's legitimate rights and interests.