On Valentine’s Day in 2012, Xiao Meili walked through a Beijing commercial district in a wedding dress, its shimmering white folds splattered with red. She and two other Chinese activists had decided to march through the busy shopping area in gowns covered in fake blood to raise awareness about domestic abuse, which affects 1 in 4 women in China,according to 2017 government estimates. As they carried signs with slogans like “Love is not an excuse for violence,” Xiao says passersby expressed their curiosity and support.
Activists have been advocating for equal rights for women in China for years, but because of the government’s strict rule, they face different struggles than their counterparts in the West — including online censorship, arrests, and forced evictions. “In a country where the government still exerts tight control over ideology, those inside the system rarely find the courage to speak up,” Xiao wrote in a 2015 op-ed. “Strong public pressure is necessary. We cannot afford to go about our campaign quietly.”
