In China, people being interviewed often lower their voices when discussing politics, even in private. Not ‘Xianzi’. At her apartment in Beijing, the 25-year-old screenwriter speaks without hesitation about her role in the country’s fast-growing #MeToo movement. Though she sits with an erect posture, elbows wedged against the chair arms, she seems completely at ease, dressed in a huge luxe-fleece jumper and pyjama bottoms.

#MeToo was late to begin in China but  exploded on social media in 2018. The movement has already exposed several professors at China’s top universities, as well as leading to the resignation of Shi Xuecheng, a monk who headed China’s Buddhist Association. As in the west, the campaign seeks to expose those wielding their power through sexual harassment. But people speaking up here also face the threat of censorship and even persecution from the state.

Xianzi, who wishes to be known by her nickname, not only spoke out against one of her country’s highest-profile alleged perpetrators, state media TV host Zhu Jun; she is also the first accuser to take her case to court in a civil lawsuit claiming infringement of personal dignity.