South Korean #Metoo Pioneers Xu Zhixian and Choi Yong-mei on: "This is not a war between men and women, but a war between the past and the future"

In May 2017, Japanese journalist Ito Shiwei appeared and accused yamaguchi, the former head of TBS Washington, of sexually assaulting her.
In December 2017, South Korean poet Choi Yong-mei published a poem about the long-term sexual harassment of women by South Korean literary heavyweight poet Gao Yin.
In January 2018, Xu Zhixian, a former prosecutor in Seoul, South Korea, appeared, accusing Prosecutor General Antai of sexual harassment while trying to bury the truth.

The Asian #Metoo gunshots, and the movement cannot stop, nor can it stop. Japan's civil-led judicial reform movement Flower Demo in April 2019 and the #Kutoo campaign to abolish the compulsory use of high heels for women to work in June, while South Korea's #Metoo has spread all the way to the performing arts and politics, as well as to #Schoolmetoo on campus.

At the 4th World Conference on Women's Asylum Placement on November 7, 2019, Zhang Rongxuan, Chief Executive Officer of Wusi Media, discussed the current situation in Asia , where the current situation of the "Metoo" was the first time that the poet Cui Yongmei and the prosecutor, Xu Zhixian, who had set off a wave of discussions in South Korea #Metoo the previous two years, talked about the current situation in Asia - how did it all begin? How does it end?

Where did our movement go?

It's not a war between men and women, it's a war between the past and the future.

At the beginning of the conversation, Zhang Mentionmentioned Cui Yongmei's poem sage, asked the two people, after revealing the truth, what feeling?

Cui said she felt free to write, but as the poem appeared in magazines, she began to feel scared.

"After the poem was published, the Korean community was very disappointed. At first there were media reporters who wanted to see me, and the public's attention was on me, so I started to feel scared, because just saying the wrong thing would create a lot of problems. I tell myself, swimming beauty, you have to be careful, you have to be careful to talk. But you don't need to be sorry for monsters, and you don't need to be sorry for people who offend yourself. 」

The same anxiety occurred with prosecutor Xu Zhixian. After being sexually harassed by her boss in 2010, she reported it to her supervisor, but was demoted. Until a television interview in 2017, she went with awareness: "I thought I could never be an prosecutor again, and I might not be able to be a lawyer." I even thought, I can't go out of the house again in my life. 」

Publicly, they were called brave, but at the time, Korean society as a whole was still inclined to blame the victims, especially in Asian society, where #Metoo were in a common dilemma - the perpetrators held enormous powers, leading only a small number of victims to speak out, and after the whistle-blowing, the victims were likely to have to live in fear, including loss of livelihood and pressure to be criticized.

Just as the two men's scruples reflect the plight of #Metoo the victims before exposing the truth, he must first consider the worst, not only the truth can not be done, but also social revenge, including physical and psychological;

We in the meeting site, feel is the two in the words, each sentence is very careful, if can not accurately describe the words in English, will use Korean to do a second confirmation.

But as Cui said, "This is not a war between men and women, but a war between the past and the future." 」

By the highly regarded national poets fell to the altar, the judicial community for the rights of victims but cover the sexual harassment incident, the voice of Korean society at first still is biased in favor of blaming the perpetrators, but with the two people's hair, after the same victims came forward, involving the political, film and drama industry, campus, from home to abroad, there are people to express support. Standing at the top of the waves, Xu Zhixian and Cui Yongmei, they witnessed the change in wind direction.

From blaming victims to support: South Korea's #Metoo changes over the past two years

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2018, South Korea ranks 115th out of 149 countries, according to a 2018 report by Our Media CEO Zhang Yuxuan. India, ranked the most at-risk country for women by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, ranked 108th in the report. In response to the results of such a report, how do the two see the current situation of women in Korea?

Xu Zhixian and Choi Yong-mei spoke out about the gender status in South Korea in response to the report's findings. "One part is correct, some part is not," Ms Cui said. I think in South Korea, women's situation has gradually improved, walking on the streets of Seoul at night is very safe. As far as #Metoo, last year I was not in a position to talk more about it because I was afraid of being scolded, but over the past year, I feel able to talk more about it. 」

Xu Zhixian referred to the controversy over the filming of pornography in 2018, when pinhole cameras were placed in changing rooms, public toilets, hotels and other public places to secretly film women, but the authorities did nothing, sparking mass protests in South Korea.

"Many foreigners say they are afraid to go to South Korea because of pinhole cameras. In the social climate of the time, many people would blame women. The public believes that women who have been filmed should be ashamed of themselves.

Since the two men came forward, more and more women in South Korea have come forward to tell their stories of experience, which has led Korean society to pay more attention to the fact that the problem of sexual violence does exist and should not be ignored. So on September 19 last year, south Korea's well-known director Lee Run-ze was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting nine women, and the community began a #Withyou campaign to support the victims, and in October 2018 15,000 people took to the streets of South Korea to launch a social movement, "Inconvenient Courage", calling on the government to severely punish perpetrators of filming women. (Extended reading: South Korea's #MeToo Live: Behind the bright glow of Korean drama, have you seen oppressed women?) ) )

Tomorrow said it wouldn't be better, I chose to act now

We have to admit that society is not ready for a safer, more comfortable speaking space. Zhang Weixuan asked the two, revealed the truth, have there ever been regrets? How do you deal with these emotions?

"It was the most important moment of my life," Ms. Choi recalled taking a taxi to south Korean television station JTBC for an interview. The reporter told me, swimming beauty, you must do today (on TV). I don't have much time to think, but I thought it wouldn't be better tomorrow, so I made a decision right away (to be interviewed on television). 」

Xu Zhixian had tears in his eyes and finished all the sentences: "The moment I regret most is seeing the prosecutors who once ate, drink and chat with themselves, and after what happened, it was not to support me, but to say that I was a liar." I really believe disaded on them, but they scolded me in turn. 」

But she believes she made the right decision and must speak out about her experience so that the victims do not feel like they are alone.

Cui quoted the American poet Maya Angelou as saying:

There is greater than agony chan untold story inside inside you - Maya Angelou, i Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
There is nothing greater distress than the story that lies deep in your heart. Maya Angelo, American poet

That's why, in 2014, women fans launched the "Face the Sexual Assault Anonymous Message Board" service, we need to make victims feel safe, tell their stories, and we want to learn together how to accompany the victim, through this trauma, and regain our strength.

As Cui said, #Metoo is not a war between men and women, but a war between the future and the past, the truth will eventually be stronger than fear and regret, the Asian #Metoo movement will not stop, from our side, to support a safer space for dialogue, so that more victims can speak their stories without fear, and together to end sexual violence.