Jiang Mengjie, a Chinese actress, has been praised for revealing she was the victim of upskirting and was blackmailed over a film of her that circulated.
Upskirting, which involves using a device such as a camera phone to shoot explicit photographs underneath a victim’s clothing without consent, is often undetected.
Jiang Mengjie revealed to her eight million Weibo followers that the video was shot “many years ago.”
She found out after her workers discovered remarks about the footage on the internet.
Jiang stated that a friend later sent her a video, leaving her “angry and disgusted, along with a sense of powerlessness.”
‘Not our fault’
“Some web users have told me that videos have been posted to many groups… with over one million views,” she claimed.
Jiang went on to add that she had started receiving private messages blackmailing her about the tape,
“saying that they would send the video to major film and TV companies and brands, and ruin the rest of my life.”
She stated that she contacted the police, who informed her that the suspect who blackmailed her had been apprehended and that she would be “notified when their punishment was served.”
“As a public figure, maybe I can make more people pay attention to such vicious incidents by taking a stand,” she told her followers.
“It’s not our fault we were secretly photographed.” This should not have an impact on our lives.”
‘Sisters should not suffer in silence’
Jiang Mengjie has received a great deal of praise for telling her story online.
Her post went viral on Weibo, with over 500 million people reading it on Wednesday.
Her Weibo post has gotten over 600,000 likes.
Many people praised her for speaking out and condemned her blackmailer’s “arrogance” and “perverted” behavior.
“He ought to be ashamed… “How does he think he can ruin someone’s life for the rest of her life?” asks one user, who has received over 25,000 likes.
Read Also: Thiago Silva says Chelsea needs to ‘stop and put a strategy in place’
“You are really brave,” another user says, adding, “Sisters should not suffer in silence when they encounter such a thing.”
Some have noted, however, that Jiang’s public profile means that a video that has spread beyond her control may leave her feeling “persecuted.”
Many users urged other women to “take up their legal weapons” and criticized the concept of “victim blaming.”
According to the Sixth Tone news website, upskirting and voyeurism are “common concerns among women in China, as there are no laws prohibiting the sale of hidden cameras.”
Many Chinese women had “started wearing an additional layer of clothing to deter judgmental comments and would-be voyeurs”
After secretly filming others had generally resulted in sentences of no more than 10 days.
Source: BBC
