Recently, in Jiayi Town, Hunan Province, there has been controversy surrounding the establishment of numerous propaganda slogans related to “prohibiting the rape of young girls.” In recent years, the authorities in Hunan have launched special campaigns under the pretext of “punishing crimes against minors,” with the shocking slogans in Jiayi Town being just a part of the official propaganda efforts. However, the case of Tang Hui’s daughter being raped in Hunan, which has not been prosecuted to this day, while Tang Hui herself is imprisoned again, has attracted considerable attention.
According to related videos, netizens driving through Jiayi Town in Pingjiang County, Yueyang City, Hunan, noticed multiple advertising slogans erected along the roadside. These slogans included phrases like: “Having sexual relations with girls under the age of 14, regardless of consent, constitutes rape!” “Raping young girls is a first-degree crime, and soliciting young girls for prostitution compounds the offense.” “Raping and molesting minors leads to a sentence of three years or more, up to the death penalty,” among others.
The footage mentioned, “Just passed through a county town, the sheer scale and frequency of these (legal education) slogans shocked me.”
Many netizens expressed their opinions: “Alas, has society really deteriorated to this point?” “Do we really need to say ‘prohibit the rape of young girls’? Rape is already a crime.” “What would minors think if they see these slogans?” “This is a reflection of the frequent occurrences of such events in this area.” “Slogans are a prominent feature of this country, symbolizing the ideological high ground.” “Hasn’t the crime of soliciting underage prostitution been abolished?”
Some netizens commented: “Rural grassroots rape of young girls has reached alarming levels, with many left-behind children becoming targets of criminals.” “Changing the lenient sentencing is more effective than anything else. The absence of slogans in certain areas does not necessarily reduce crime rates and may even lead to turning a blind eye.”
In response to the aforementioned controversy, government officials from Jiayi Town, Yueyang, Hunan, stated, “In order to respond to the national call and prevent such incidents, we are using this method to remind citizens to abide by the law.”
The official did not specify the exact nature of the “call to action,” but a slogan displayed in Jiayi Town reads, “Safeguarding innocence with a sharp sword, taking thunderous action.”
According to official information from Hunan, in December 2021, the Communist Party of China Hunan Provincial Committee launched the “Safeguarding Innocence with a Sharp Sword” special campaign, aimed at combating and punishing crimes against minors.
The website of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission shows that almost daily there are reports and notifications of achievements related to this campaign.
In fact, from past media reports, it is evident that Hunan Province has been plagued by numerous cases of rape and molestation of girls.
As early as 2003, the official media of Hunan Province, “Sanxiang Dushi Bao,” reported on the “Eight Strict Prohibitions” governing the governance of “three disorders” in education, with one prohibition being “strictly prohibiting rape and molestation of female students.” Commentators questioned whether such regulations instilled confidence or raised concerns among the public.
A search on the internet reveals that in recent years, Hunan Province has seen a proliferation of cases involving the molestation and rape of minors, some with lenient punishment for the offenders, and instances where police refused to file a case on the grounds of lack of evidence of coercion.
Furthermore, the unresolved case of Tang Hui in Hunan remains of great concern.
In 2006, Tang Hui, a resident of Yongzhou in Hunan, had her 10-year-old daughter, Lele (pseudonym), kidnapped, raped, and gang-raped, with two police officers involved. Lele was then sold to a brothel run by a relative of a public security bureau political commissar, where she was forced into prostitution. Over the next three months, she was forced into prostitution over 100 times, subjected to gang rapes and beatings, contracted sexually transmitted diseases, rendering her infertile for life.
Tang Hui’s defense lawyer at the time, Gan Yuanchun, revealed that following the incident, the local judiciary and public security agencies failed to rescue Lele, refused to file a case, leaked confidential information, colluded to frame her, and forced Lele’s mother into reeducation, in an attempt to cover up the crimes.
Tang Hui, who repeatedly petitioned for her daughter’s case, was detained multiple times by the police. In 2012, she was sentenced to one and a half years of reeducation through labor. However, under public pressure, the authorities revoked the decision. In October 2023, Tang Hui and her brother Tang Shike were sentenced to four years and three years and six months respectively for “provoking trouble” in the first instance. While in prison, Tang Hui sought help through letters, revealing that she had been subjected to forced confessions under torture.