Tsinghua Professor: Raping a Hostess is Less Harmful

From QQ:

Tsinghua Professor: Raping Hostesses is Less Harmful than Raping Women of Good Households

[…]

July 10, the new attorneys of Li X, who has been charged by prosecutors for suspicion of rape, made a statement on their blog claiming that the press has the obligation to protect minors and old artists. Moreover, the two new lawyers had previously communicated to the press that they were going to plead not guilty for Li X. All of a sudden, this event has once again incited the fermentation of public opinion.

[…]

On [July] 16, a certain Yi Yanyou, whose verified weibo account says he’s the head of the Law School Evidence Act Center of Tsinghua University, defended Li Tianyi’s attorneys on his microblog arguing that raping a hostess [women hired by bars and clubs to fill up the venue, dance on the dance floor, drink with customers but rarely anything more] is less harmful than raping a woman from a good family. As soon as he said this, it incited heated netizen discussion. Immediately, in response to questions and criticism from netizens, Yi Yanyou clarified on his microblog that the last sentence should be revised as follows: Raping a woman from a good household is more harmful than raping prostitutes and hostesses who drink, dance, and sleep with customers.

The following is the original microblog post [since deleted]:

@易延友: In defense of Li Tianyi’s defense attorneys: 1. To plead innocent is his right. To quote the Haidian district prosecutor: The sky isn’t going to fall down if we let someone plead not guilty. 2. Minors enjoy special protections, there’s nothing inappropriate about his attorneys issuing statements asking people to respect the law. 3. Pointing out that the victim is a hostess doesn’t mean that hostesses can be raped but there’s a greater possibility that a hostess would consent to sexual behavior. Moreover, even if it is rape, raping hostesses is less harmful than raping women of good households.

Heated weibo discussion:

@宦卿世界: As a “man of the law”, this Mr. Yi of the Tsinghua University Law School is clearly defending Li Shuangjiang. The defense attorneys can plead innocent. This case can only be discussed on whether the punishment fits the crime, because there are already regulations in the law concerning juveniles committing crimes. To argue a defense that hostesses are more likely to agree to sex just makes him a legal illiterate. That’s because the law only cares about evidence, not “possibilities”. “Possibilities” are “groundless”, they are not evidence.

@FTD-TT: Hehe, may I ask by what standard is the degree of harm measured?? Rape is rape, the offense is the same as long as it is against a woman’s will. It has nothing to do with her occupation. A character like you can be a doctoral supervisor? Can you even teach your students well?

@一十一为王: It’s over, completely over. How has China’s education been lowered to the level of animals, that their humanity is even worse than that of animals’.

@包炬强: Chairman of Law School Evidence Act Center of Tsinghua University, are people graded and labeled in your mind? How can you say something so discriminatory? Quote Director Yang Heping: A complete legal illiterate, stupid, ignorant. A character like this can make his way into Tsinghua and become a professor? What happened to this country?!

@热情洋溢的老头: You are too lacking in basic moral sense!

Comments from QQ:

腾讯网友 婲謝依然羙、:

Women of good households are people, hostesses are not? All men are equal before the law. Besides, what evidence do you have to define her as a hostess?

腾讯网友 只要有你:

Worse than a beast, how can you be a professor? I feel ashamed that China has people like you!

腾讯网友 梦逍遥:

I want to ask this professor: what’s the definition of rape? Even if she’s a prostitute, can the circumstance of her being forced to have sex against her will be called rape? Why is it less harmful to rape a hostess while raping a woman from a good family is more harmful? Why are hostesses lower than other people? How did you cheat your way into becoming a professor?

腾讯网友 无聊:

He’s succeeded in his studies, lost his morality, with his head is firmly in his asshole, an animal.

腾讯网友 黑马:

Who gave him his professor’s title? Fang Zhouzi, go and check if he really is a professor. Isn’t it all men are equal before the law?

腾讯网友 夜冭冷:

Does the crime of rape have regulations concerning the identities of the victim? That raping women of good households is rape but raping other women is not? Is killing a bad person without criminal guilt? What kind of logic is this?

腾讯网友 Sherry:

Even if the victim is a professional prostitute, under the circumstances of her being forced to have sex against her will is also defined as a rape offense in western countries! At least one-third of male professors in China are scumbags!

腾讯网友 恋上楠de唇:

Buddha says all earthly beings are equals. Monster, first of all, you are against heaven! Secondly, what proof do you have to say that she’s a hostess? You can’t know for certain that she’s a hostess just by watching the news, right? Is someone leaking or suggesting something to you?

腾讯网友 376815977:

How can Tsinghua have a professor like him? It seems that our country has no talented people left any more.

腾讯网友 676649159:

Hostesses also have mothers, they are people, too. You rape them, you break the law, then you should pay for your mistake.

Comments from NetEase:

网易广东省珠海市香洲区手机网友 ip：183.45.*.*:

I’m just telling you gently… I’m going to fuck your sister on behalf of the netizens! I’ll shout it out to the sky… you’re not a professor, you’re a monster!

网易日本手机网友 ip：126.7.*.*:

Professors of Tsinghua have no morality, no credibility, and also lack human dignity.

网易云南省昆明市手机网友 ip：119.62.*.*:

Your daughter is raped, and your daughter happens to be a hostess. Then you say that those who raped your daughter are not guilty. Therefore, you’re the most rational.

遛遛二楼 [网易河南省开封市手机网友]:

Professor, now that you are famous, you have achieved your goal. Why are you still fucking zhuang b?

网易湖北省手机网友 ip：117.136.*.*:

So different people are treated differently in this matter? Professor, please give the people of this country a ranking standard!

网易四川省成都市手机网友 ip: 222.211.*.*:

Professor, according to your logic, if you go kill a sick person, is it less harmful? After all, a sick person isn’t normal, and has a greater possibility of dying. The amount of harm is based on the amount of harm suffered by the victim. Is getting beaten, tortured, and gang-raped by 5 men still considered little harm? You say that the internet is not rational? A simple, clear gang-rape case stalled over and over again, just because he is “Tianyi”? He is raping the law, is proving to the ordinary people that the law is their toy. To something like this, we can’t remain rational. We don’t want to be bystanders, because we’re afraid that one day when something like this happen to me, no one will be there to defend me! I don’t want my next generation to live in a environment with high-risk loopholes, even if my power is small!
Are we really going to be the “numb onlookers” Mr. Lu Xun described?

网易四川省成都市手机网友 ip: 222.211.*.*:

Stop saying that he’s underage. Although there’s a Law on the Protection of Minors, as long as someone’s above 14, he/she must bear criminal responsibility! Being underage can’t be an excuse for him to be innocent. Besides, professor, by what authority can you say that the victim is a hostess?

68054272 [网易广东省佛山市手机网友]:

We are just ordinary common people! I’m reminded of the words a great scholar once said many years ago! We are not toys for you to play with as you please.
To fight for the freedom of an individual, is to fight for the freedom of the nation. To fight for the human dignity of an individual, is to fight for the dignity of the nation! A nation of freedom and equality is not something that can be built by a bunch of slaves!
—Hu Shi