China Calls Uighur Women Alleging Sexual Abuse "Inferior"

China, countering Uighur women who have alleged sexual abuse and human rights violations in the country against the Muslim minority community, has called them "inferior." Raising questions over their moral character, Chinese spokespersons have sought to cast doubt on their survivor stories.

As per a Reuters report, Chinese authorities have made public sensitive information about these women's personal lives in a bid to quash their allegations. Reportedly, private medical data on the women’s fertility, sex lives and health conditions have been disclosed at a press conference held Friday.

Of late, there have been growing concerns of violence against the Uighur minority in China, with a concentrated focus on sexual abuse, rape and oppression of Uighur women in detention camps at Xinjiang. China claims it is curbing terrorism and is a step towards "re-education."

Uighur Women Detail Harrowing Experiences At Detention Camps

The Uighurs, an almost 12 million-strong ethnic community in China, have been subjected to state oppression in the last decade, with various reports and experts dubbing it a "genocide" on part of China's Communist Party. Women at internment camps have come forward with serious allegations of sexual violence against them in recent years.

In 2018, a woman named Tursun opened up about the arrest and extreme treatment she was given, saying, "I would rather die than go through this torture and begged them to kill me."

A BBC report earlier this month detailed the experiences of more Uighur women that included details of rape, sexual abuse, and torture, based on interviews with several former detainees and a guard at internment camps. A woman who was detained for 18 months in the camp reported that her job was to strip Uighur women naked and handcuff them, before leaving them alone with Chinese men.

Several former detainees and a guard revealed that they witnessed organised system of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture as each night women were taken from their cells and raped.

The United States reacted to these allegations saying it was "deeply disturbed” and demanded consequences. More here.