The second in CDT’s series of International Women’s Day posters focuses on posters and artwork urging people to remember Xiaohuamei, the trafficked woman and mother of eight found shackled in a shed in Fengxian, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Many Chinese citizens have doubts about the official findings in the case, including whether the woman identified by officials as Xiaohuamei of Yunnan Province could be Li Ying of Sichuan Province, or even another trafficked woman. They are also concerned about the woman’s current health and whereabouts, and worried that people will forget about her plight and that of other trafficked women.
A crowd of chained women hold up red masks of the woman from the Xuzhou viral video, identified as “Xiaohuamei” in the official investigative report.
This illustration also features an image of the shackled woman’s face.
Black text at the center, ripped in half: “Lawful Marriage”
Red text at center: “How many other Xiaohuameis are there?”
Smaller black and red characters, right: “A minor domestic matter, or illegal imprisonment?”
Rainbow-colored hashtag: #March8FightGender-BasedViolence#March8StopGender-BasedViolence
Hashtag on cell phone: #FengxianMother-of-8Incident”
Gray text: “On March 8, Please Keep Speaking Out.”
Black text: “Is trafficking-based marriage legal?”Red character in background: “Double Happiness” [Pronounced shuāngxǐ, this character is often displayed at weddings.]
Black text at top: “Abducted, illegally imprisoned, abused, raped, registered in an illegal marriage, and forced to have multiple children.”
Hashtag: #March8FightGender-basedViolence
Collage of terms drawn from official statements and online documentation about the case: “Error 404: No search results found for ‘Li Ying’” / “found [her]” / “Xiaohuamei” / “suffers from mental illness” / “marriage registration” / “violent behavior” / “Yang Qingxia” / “schizophrenic” / “appears mentally retarded” / “receiving medical treatment” / “Yang *xia” / “Li Ying” / “no evidence of traf…”
Black text at bottom: “Dong *min abused his family members.”
“If the woman is trafficked, is the resulting marriage legal?”March 8, 2022 [International Women’s Day], enchained.
Blue cover with white Xinhua News font characters: “Official Press Release”
Image beneath the cover: Xiaohuamei’s face from the Tianjin mural that was painted over, composed of the Chinese characters for “freedom.”Xinhua News font: “Official Press Release”
A collage of screenshots related to Xiaohuamei’s trafficking case.
Top right, white text: “On March 8, keep speaking out.”
#PleaseKeepPayingAttentionToXuzhouMother-of-8Case
Bottom, gray text, partially obscured: “Fight Gender-based Violence”Weibo’s standard gray “Missing Image” backdrop, superimposed with the question: “How many more Xiaohuameis are there?”
Text at bottom: “Marriage is no excuse for human trafficking; support equal criminal punishments for buyers and sellers.”“This world doesn’t want me!” [words uttered by Xiaohuamei in a video]
Top: “Pronounced: ‘Fu.’ A woman holding a broom.”
Center: The traditional Chinese character for “woman/wife,” enchained.
Bottom: “#FengxianMother-of-8Incident”
“The whole nation should reflect on the cultural and systemic causes.”Text at bottom indicates that the woman (identified as Xiaohuamei) was married for 24 years, gave birth to 8 children, and there were 5 official public statements about her case.
A second-class train ticket from Beijing to Fengxian, for Seat 8 in Car 3, leaving at 17:38, March 8, 2022. [International Women’s Day]
Text at bottom: “China Railway urges you not to take this trip!”Xioahuamei, in chains at left. Her husband Dong Zhiming, reclining at right. The purported first names (unconfirmed) of their eight children appear over his head: “Hangtian (Aerospace), Guoku (National Treasury), Guoji (International), Yinshan (Silver Mountain), Yinfeng (Silver Phoenix), Jinshan (Gold Mountain), Yinhang (Bank) and Xianggang (Hong Kong).”
Center: “Women are not slaves.”
Bottom: “International Working Women’s Day. Fight all forms of violence against women.”Center: “How many more Xiaohuameis are there?”
Bottom: “You can’t put a price on people.”
“Give them back their freedom.”Yellow text, diagonal: “Fight the patriarchy”
Black text: “To all the unnamed women—the caged woman, Xiaohuamei, the chained woman, the captive girl-genius, so-and-so from such-and-such family, the woman in the quilt, Li Ying, the crazy woman, the missing woman, the abducted women, the woman in the cave—as long as we don’t forget you, they won’t be able to sweep this under the rug.”Top: “How many more Xiaohuameis are there?”
Center, red: “Double Happiness”
Bottom: “Marriage is no excuse for human trafficking”Top, Hashtag: #PleaseContinueToPayAttentionToTheFengxianMother-of-8Case
Top: “Dongji Village is trying to bury the case of XX: that’s the reason we couldn’t go today, and it’s the same reason why the ‘plum blossom’ woman abducted all those years ago couldn’t escape!”
Handwritten note:
“Dear Friends in Building Two:
Sorry for the imposition, but we’re asking for a bit of your time to read the text below. The truth is, the ‘women’s markets’ and ‘women’s corporations’ of the underground economy are nothing but a regression into the past, the resurrection of an ancient evil in this modern age.
‘An Ancient Evil’
With the approach of Women’s Day, our time to bask in the sunshine, some women are suffering in iron chains. Xuzhou is not far from us, and the trafficking of women is not some gory fictional story. Any case of female trafficking deserves our attention—we are survivors, but we are not bystanders. We have to know that sometimes, forgetfulness and apathy are a kind of intolerable leniency.
‘She is me, and I am her.’ Please continue to pay attention to the case of the Fengxian mother-of-eight.
Early wishes to all women and girls for freedom, health and happiness on Women’s Day. March 2, 2022.”
Bottom:
“Culture, institutions, and the law tend to look the other way when it comes to the trafficking of women and children.”
“Jiangsu investigation: ‘Dong *min abuses his family members.'”
“If the woman is trafficked, is the marriage legal?”Top: “How many more Xiaohuameis are there?”
Bottom: “Severely punish all acts of violence against women.”[Chinese]
![White Chinese characters against a blue background read “3/8” [March 8], with a lock and chain around the “three.”](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/files/2022/03/image-1646797791813.png)
![Gray illustration shows eight piglets suckling below a chained uterus. Text reads: “March 8” [International Women’s Day] and “This world doesn’t want me!” [words uttered by Xiaohuamei in a video]](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/files/2022/03/image-1646797899555.png)
With translation by Joseph Brouwer.
