From LA Times:
Public humiliation as punishment sets off a debate over individual privacy and the limits of state intrusion.
When police in booming Shenzhen organized a parade of 100 prostitutes, pimps, madams and their customers recently, there was little to suggest they were on shaky ground. Not only did it seem like a great way to kick off a two-month anti-prostitution campaign, the methodology was time-tested: Public shaming has featured prominently in China’s criminal justice system for thousands of years.
In show-trial fashion, the shackled defendants were marched through Shenzhen’s Shazui neighborhood, better known locally as “Mistress Village,” in government-issue yellow shirts and black pants. Photos by local journalists show the women trying to cover their faces at the late November event. Any hope of anonymity was soon frustrated when police began calling out the names and addresses of each alleged offender to a crowd of 1,000 or so, announcing a 15-day sentence and ushering them to waiting prison vans.[Full Text]
