Chinese women are using emojis to combat censorship of the #MeToo campaign

Twitter users in China have turned to emojis to continue the #MeToo campaign after the government started deleting any mentions of the sexual harassment movement.

A rice bowl and bunny rabbit are the new symbols of the #MeToo trend in China, which only arrived at the start of 2018. Luo Xixi brought the movement across from Hollywood and wrote a 3,000-word post on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

According to news.com.au, Luo accused her former professor, Chen Xiaowu, of harassing her. After the post went viral, professors from 30 universities across China signed a petition demanding better protection from sexual harassment and a more appropriately handled complaints system.

Unfortunately, the Chinese government stepped in to snuff out the movement and went about deleting social media posts with the #MeToo hashtag attached.

Not willing to let the movement die, Chinese women started using the rice and rabbit emojis in the place of #MeToo. Rice translates to "mi" and rabbit translates to "tu" - Mi Tu.

Launching the movement from an education facility was a logical choice, according to Meg Jing Zeng in The Conversation. "From primary school through to university in China, gift giving and bribery are common practice among students and parents to secure opportunities. This culture is ripe for abuse.

"As several victims of university sexual harassment have revealed, predatory teachers often used coursework scores, scholarships, and even the outcome of degrees to lure or blackmail students."