JINHA

NEWS CENTER – The organization Weizhiming, linked to the five Chinese women arrested in China's pre-March 8 crackdown on women's rights activists, has announced that regime pressure has forced them to close their doors.

According to AP, Weizhiming—a prominent women's rights group in China—announced yesterday that they will have to close their doors as a result of regime pressure. The group had worked against women's economic exploitation, employment inequality, violence against women and most recently sexual harassment.

It was for a planned sticker-distributing campaign against sexual harassment on public transit that five women who worked with Weizhiming were arrested days before March 8, International Women's Working Day. The women were held for 37 days in poor conditions. Guards denied medical treatment and a bed to one woman as punishment.

Wu Rongrong was one of the five women arrested and was one of the founders of Weizhiming. She said the women were startled at the intensive police investigation and pressure into their organization, as they always worked in full compliance with Chinese law.

"Because of the mounting pressure from authorities, we had fewer and fewer projects going on, so we can't afford the rental and operation of the center. Plus some of our colleagues also had trouble entering mainland China from Hong Kong. So we have no other choice but to shut the center down," said Rongrong.

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