A Chinese shaming stirs controversy and debate
A helpful reader pointed me to this fascinating article in today’s New York Times regarding the recent shaming of prostitutes in Shenzhen, China. Here are snippets:
For people who saw the event on television earlier this month, the scene was like a chilling blast from a past that is 30 years distant: social outcasts and supposed criminals — in this case 100 or so prostitutes and a few pimps — paraded in front of a jeering crowd, their names revealed, and then driven away to jail without trial.
The act of public shaming was intended as the first step in a two-month campaign by the authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen to crack down on prostitution. But the event has prompted an angry nationwide backlash, with many people making common cause with the prostitutes over the violation of their human rights and expressing outrage in one online forum after another….
That this event took place in Shenzhen, the birthplace of China’s economic reforms and one of its richest and most open cities, seems to have added to its shock value. “Even people who commit crimes deserve dignity,” one person wrote on the popular Internet forum 163.com…. While voices condemning the behavior of the city and its police force were the most energetic, some spoke up in support of the crackdown. “Perhaps you’ve never been to Shenzhen, or you’ve been there and you don’t have a thorough understanding of the place,” wrote one contributor to an Internet forum….
Instead of jumping on the bandwagon against prostitution, which is illegal but omnipresent in China, many commentators aimed their criticisms at the government for its hypocrisy in not acting against the rich underworld that operates the sex trade or even arresting the prostitutes’ customers….
Whatever one might think about the specifics of this punishment in China, it is notable that a public shaming sanction has prompted an national and international debate about Chinese crime and punishment. I doubt that the Chinese (or NY Times) buzz would have been as great if all these defendants were simply locked up or fined.
Some recent posts on shaming sentences: