In support of Ye Haiyan

Updates!

June 13th | Ye Haiyan was released on June 12th. Click here.
June 30th | Click here to read about Ye Haiyan’s continued battle sex workers’ rights.
July 6th | Ye Haiyan was evicted from her home by Guangdong police. Click here.

Postcard campaign in support of Ye Haiyan

Chinese activists have started a postcard campaign in support of sex worker activist Ye Haiyan, who was detained days after protesting against officials’ failure to tackle child abuse. To learn more about this story, please refer to the articles listed below.

Please support sex worker activist Ye Haiyan

To express your support or just send Haiyan a nice message, please participate in the campaign.

Here is how:

1. Find a postcard you like, e.g. one where you’re from.

2. Write your own text on the postcard: you can ask for the release of Ye Haiyan, write a message of support to Ye Haiyan, or anything else you want to say.

3. Please send the postcard to Bobai Detention Center at the below address.

4. When you mail the postcard, please take a picture of yourself at the post box or post office, holding the postcard. You can of course cover your face or choose to only display the postcard and post office.

You can also ask a passerby to take your photo. It’s a good occasion to let people know about Ye Haiyan’s case and about the international sex workers’ rights movement.

5. Please send the picture to jiazimaili[at]gmail.com. Activists will post the pictures to their Weibo accounts, a Chinese microblogging service akin to Twitter, to document the cards being sent to Bobai Detention Center.

Mailing address for postcards:

博白县拘留所 Bobai County Detention Center
广西壮族自治区玉林市博白县兴隆西路 Xinglong West Road, Bobai County,
Yulin City, Guangxi Province, China.
邮政编码：53769 Post code: 53769

The above text was mostly taken from the Facebook page of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers.

Articles about Ye Haiyan’s detention

The Guardian | Chinese police refuse to release activist who campaigned against child abuse

According to Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “The whole thing looks like a set-up so they could detain her for 15 days.”  He added: “There is a history of using proxies to unlawfully assault human rights defenders. There is a long history of lawyers or activists being attacked by ‘thugs’ or ‘gangsters’ in fact acting at the behest of the government.  “She is the victim here: she was attacked and she documented what was happening. If police have convincing evidence showing otherwise they should come forward with it. The fact she is now detained seems to be a transparent ploy to silence her on the issue of sexual assault of school children.”

South China Morning Post | School sexual abuse protester Ye Haiyan beaten up in her own home

Gender rights activist Ye Haiyan was assaulted and detained by Guangxi public security officials yesterday after returning from Hainan province, where she had protested against the sexual abuse of schoolgirls. Ye appealed for help three times on her microblog around noon yesterday, saying her apartment had been raided by about 10 women and one man while she was alone with her daughter.

Two Beijing-based lawyers who joined Ye in the Hainan protest earlier this week said Ye was summoned for questioning by police in Guangxi’s Bobai county yesterday after she was accused of physical assault while fending off her attackers. Her supporters said they believed the attack was an attempt to silence Ye after she launched an online anti-child-abuse campaign that has received massive public support.

Shanghaiist | Sex-worker activist Ye Haiyan imprisoned after chasing off three intruders

Tang Jitian, a Beijing-based rights lawyer, said “[Ye] has also been seen as a thorn in the side of local authorities obsessed with maintaining social stability. This is not the first time she has been harassed.”

Photos accompanying the original article in Chinese can be found here.

Global Times | Police hold activist Ye Haiyan for 13 days, reject release request

Local police in Bobai county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have rejected an  application from women’s and sexual rights activist Ye Haiyan’s lawyers to suspend her 13-day administrative detention for intentional injury, her lawyer told the Global Times Sunday.  “The local police called me around noon to say the application was rejected, saying Ye should apply for the suspension herself, and there should be a guarantor. However, Ye’s daughter is only 13 years old, which means she can’t be a guarantor,” lawyer Wang Quanping said. He submitted the application at midday Saturday.