She Said #MeToo. Now She’s Being Punished Under Defamation Law.

More than two years in the past, He Qian, a former journalist in China, got here ahead with accusations of sexual assault towards a well known reporter. Her story circulated extensively on the web, serving to give power to China’s burgeoning #MeToo motion.

Now Ms. He, 32, is being punished for it. A Chinese court docket dominated this week that she had violated defamation legal guidelines by publicizing her accusations.

She and a buddy, Zou Sicong, who helped her share her story on-line, have been ordered to pay greater than $1,800 in authorized charges and damages to the person whom Ms. He accused of assault, Deng Fei, a journalist at a Chinese journal. Mr. Deng has denied the accusations.

“Chinese law needs to do more to respond to #MeToo,” Ms. He, who additionally makes use of the primary identify Belinda, stated in an interview. “This is only the beginning and far from enough.”

Ms. He’s case has been a intently watched take a look at of the Chinese authorities’s tolerance for the nation’s small however spirited #MeToo motion. The resolution by the court docket, within the jap metropolis of Hangzhou, highlights the challenges for girls in China who come ahead with accusations of sexual harassment and assault towards outstanding males.

#MeToo has gained traction in China lately, regardless of the governing Communist Party’s strict limits on activism and dissent and its tight management of the web. Various outstanding males at Chinese firms, spiritual establishments and universities have been compelled to resign after ladies spoke out about harassment and abuse.

But many obstacles stay. Rape and sexual harassment are sometimes thought-about taboo topics in China. The authorities typically discourage ladies from submitting complaints. And lately males accused of harassment have sued their accusers for defamation, in what critics say is an effort to intimidate and silence them.

In her article, which circulated on-line in China after Mr. Zou printed it on his social media account, Ms. He wrote about her time in 2009 as a 21-year-old intern at Phoenix Weekly, a Chinese journal, the place Mr. Deng was the chief journalist. She stated that Mr. Deng invited her to a lodge room to debate tales, then forcibly kissed and groped her.

After the article was printed, Mr. Deng sued each Ms. He and Mr. Zou for defamation.

The court docket in Hangzhou sided with Mr. Deng, saying that Ms. He and Mr. Zou had not offered sufficient proof of the alleged assault. “What they described lacks factual evidence and legal basis,” the court docket stated.

Ms. He and Mr. Zou stated they might enchantment the choice.

Mr. Deng didn’t reply to a request for remark. “I’ve never done such a bad and stupid thing,” he wrote of Ms. He’s accusations in a current social media submit. He stated he couldn’t recall assembly her.

Mr. Zou stated Chinese regulation ought to be extra aware of ladies who deliver ahead allegations of assault and harassment.

“Hoping a topic will just disappear and return to the old world is ignorant and peremptory,” he wrote on WeChat, a preferred social media app. “I will take responsibility until the end for publishing the article about He Qian.”

For activists keen to guard the rights of girls and push again towards China’s patriarchal tradition, the choice was a setback.

Feng Yuan, a co-founder of a ladies’s rights nonprofit group in Beijing, stated the court docket had “completely denied the existence of sexual harassment.”

“Many people will feel even more powerless in the face of sexual harassment,” Ms. Feng stated.

Despite the federal government’s efforts to restrict activism, the #MeToo motion in China has had some success and continues to take pleasure in assist amongst ladies from quite a lot of backgrounds.

A court docket in Beijing final month heard the case of Zhou Xiaoxuan, a former intern at China’s state broadcaster who accused a outstanding tv persona, Zhu Jun, of sexual assault. (Mr. Zhu has denied the accusations.) Dozens of individuals gathered exterior, some holding indicators with the #MeToo hashtag, in a present of assist that’s uncommon at Chinese court docket proceedings.

Despite the court docket’s resolution, Ms. He stated she would proceed to press her case. She stated she was inspired that her case had prompted some dialogue of girls’s rights in China.

“The worst-case scenario,” she stated, “would be if no one discussed or paid attention to this topic and no one dared stand up.”

Albee Zhang contributed analysis.