A Chinese group promoting human rights said a number of women had been detained ahead of a rally protesting sexual harassment on public transportation.
#China police detain women human rights defenders ahead of anti-sexual harassment rally in Beijing & Guangzhou. http://t.co/EK9X9U7kWx
The rallies had been planned to coincide with International Women's Day on Sunday, March 8.
Ask Beijing & Guangzhou police: Is it a crime to speak out about sexual harassment in China? Free the 3 activists! http://t.co/EK9X9U7kWx
Int'l Women's Day #China: A 4th women rights activist Wu Rongrong detained by Hangzhou police, feared to be tortured http://t.co/RPYbkONEfI
Supporters of the detained women took to Chinese social media platform Weibo to demand their release.
By Monday, the group reported that five women remained in police custody.
#China police detained 5 women asking just for that: @amnestypress: ‘Hands off our bodies' http://t.co/rHHBdaf8XX @UNWomenWatch @UN_HRC
The New York Times reported that 10 women had been detained around the country, and five were released after questioning.
As part of the anti-harassment campaign, women planned to put stickers on subway cars. On its blog, the activist group said it feared this was part of a larger movement by Chinese authorities to limit the work of nongovernment organizations.