How Li fought for justice against the family member who abused her

This article contains references to rape, sexual violence and child abuse.

The latest episode of Dateline, survivor my father, on 26 August at 9.30 pm on SBS or SBS on request.

In a park in the modern Metropolis Shenzhen in South China, a father meets his daughter. It looks like a normal meeting, but the daughter, Li, has been preparing for years at the moment.

“I was completely in black to see him that day as if he attended his funeral,” she said.

“My heart beat quickly …”

On the footpath, hidden in the bushes, her fiancé secretly films the encounter while Li is wearing a microphone to capture the confrontation.

“Pain is all I can remember about my first sexual experience,” Li tells her father, Tang, in her attempt to bring her father to the dish for sexual abuse of children.

“It only took one or two seconds.”

In the course of the conversation, Tang admits that he raped his daughter to 2013 between 2009 and repeatedly had a hard time.

It is strong evidence for Li’s lawyer, Wan. She encourages Li to call the police and make a report so that the evidence can be used in later criminal proceedings.

In 2009, when the abuse began, I was 15 years old.

‘It held carrot in my heart’

Looking back, Li said she didn’t know what she experienced during her teenage years was sexual abuse.

Li’s mother, lazy, did not approach the authorities when she was told about the abuse and said that her restraint to help her daughter remain a source of regrets for both of them.

“What I regret the most is not calling the police in 2009 because I felt embarrassed to even mention it,” said lazy.

“I feel miserable. I’d rather go to prison than to cry.”

Almost ten years later it continues to burden their relationship.

“It has pursued me for many years … It has absorbed root in my heart and I hope we can cut it open,” Li said.

“I have to dig out the root.”

Long -term impact of trauma

Li’s fiancée, Ma Ke, said that delays in revealing and reporting the abuse have led Li to continue to experience trauma.

“When our relationship became romantic, she suddenly brought it up with me. She just asked me if I couldn’t accept her past … We could separate it.

“I was shocked in the beginning. My heart hurts what happened to her.”

He said that Li still has nightmares and can wake up screaming at night.

Ma Ke has supported Li on her journey to justice. He believes it is important that she has someone behind her, “encourage her and lead her through”. Credit: Delivered

“She doubted whether it was logical to do this or if she was right or wrong.

“Even worse, she thought it was her fault.”

Although Li said that she was “continued” from the experience, she was forced to confront her past and to relive “painful memories” as part of the process of finding evidence to prove her allegations.

“I want to do my best and consider everything I might overlook, which makes no possibility to escape for the perpetrator [Tang]. “

Reporting China’s sexual violence

The prevalence of sexual abuse in China is expected to increase, according to Iranian academics who have modeled data from the worldwide archives of diseases.

Researchers discovered that other countries with upward trends were North Korea and Taiwan – while sexual violence continues to fall in most of the world.

Most cases of sexual abuse of children are not publicly announced or reported in China and no national statistics are published. This means that it is difficult for NGOs and the media to determine accurate figures, according to a report from 2024 by the University of Auckland and the University of New South Wales.

The report also showed that there were a number of factors that contributed to victims and survivors of sexual abuse of children in China and not to announce their experience. This varied from individual barriers, such as a lack of consciousness about abuse, to cultural barriers such as internalized shame or fear of damaging their reputation.

But after China’s #MeToo movement, a series of accusations of sexual harassment made the headlines.

In 2018, a female trainee took a controversial news anchor in court for sexual abuse. It inspired a wave of women to share similar experiences online, but the court eventually rejected its appeal due to “insufficient evidence”.

The woman in the middle of the case, Zhou Xioxuan told the media at the time: “I am disappointed, but it is also somewhat expected”.

In July 2024, a PhD student posted a video of one hour on the social media platform, Weibo, and accused her supervisor of continuous physical and verbal intimidation. The university had fired the professor within a day. In her statement, the university called its “moral misconduct”, not sexual abuse.

Last year, Sophia Huang Xuquin, an independent Chinese journalist who treated gender -based violence convicted of five years prison for “inciting the subversion of state power”.

The court said that a regular meeting she organized with labor activist Wang Jiangbing “encouraged the dissatisfaction of the participants about the Chinese state power under the guise of discussing social issues”, according to the Free Huang Xuquin & Wang Jianbing Group,

Sophia Huang Xueqin, a freelance journalist who wants to increase the consciousness of Peopleé about sexual harassment in China, poses with a #MeToo board at her home. 08DEC17 SCMP/Thomas Yau

Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court found #metoo -activist Huang Xueqin guilty of subversion. Source: Getty / South -China Morning Post

Potential obstacles to the revealing of sexual abuse of children are also attributed to Chinese cultural values, which emphasize family goyality, including the elderly and attitudes on sexuality in China, according to the study of the University of Auckland and the University of New South Wales.

Response from family members

It took years to report her father’s abuse, and she said it can be a debilitating and emotional process.

But after Li contacted the authorities, she claims that this time she experienced more abuse in the form of threatening speech reports of her uncle. In one endangered her uncle:

‘Remember that your life is a failure, just like your mother’s. Shame. “

But Li’s lawyer, Wan, reassured her:

“They equate the prosecution of your father to harm the interest of the family. It is not that you hurt the family, it is your father. He must take responsibility for what he did.”

Li responded with a simple explanation about text.

“Stop blaming my mother. Her only mistake was to marry your brother in the first place.”

In 2016, China adopted its first laws for domestic violence, including physical and psychological abuse. It also enabled people to request protection, including limiting orders.

But the legislation and rape laws of Chinese domestic violence have continued to experience criticism. Currently, marital sexual attack and rape is not explicitly defined as a crime“ What can make it difficult to continue.

A house with a corrugated iron roof and back garden in the foreground, with high office buildings and a temple behind it.

Li has moved abroad with her partner, Ma Ke. She said they have set up a new life in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Credit: Delivered

Hoping to distance herself from her parents and her past, Li moved to Ethiopia in East Africa.

“Having a house means breaking away from your parents. Working abroad, the more.”

‘I will never forgive them’

Unable to personally attend her hearing in China, Li supplied evidence via video from Ethiopia. Her mother also agreed to testify to support her.

Eventually Li’s father Tang was found guilty of sexual violence and rape and sentenced to 12 and six months in prison.

After the process, Li said that she will not be sure if she will keep in touch with her mother.

She recently made the knot with Ma Ke, but did not invite her mother to the wedding.

Now she tries to continue with her life.

“It took me a lot of courage to speak … About the brutality of Tang““Li said.

But although Li is satisfied with the test results, which she said she gave her closure, the trauma continues to stay with her.

“I feel much better knowing that the offender has been punished. I think reporting these things to the police can help the trauma recover victims.

“I want my life good life. I will not live my life with resentment.

“But I will never forgive them.”

If you or someone you know are affected by family and domestic violence or sexual abuse call 1800 respect on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800-Aspect.org.au. Call 000 in an emergency.

Anyone looking for information or support with regard to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831 or Blauwe Knoop at 1300 657 380.

The men’s reference service, managed by NO to violence, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.

Readers looking for support can ring a lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14 and Kinderhulplijn on 1800 55 1800 (for young people up to 25 years of age).

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