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Alibaba rape allegation exposes China’s alcohol problem: high rates of assault, workers pressured to binge drink, accidents and cancer
- An allegation by a female Alibaba employee has sent shock waves through corporate China, but belies a wider problem of enforced workplace drinking
- Experts worry about rising alcohol consumption across society; a 2018 report revealed China had world’s highest number of alcohol related deaths
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This week a female employee of Chinese tech giant Alibaba accused a manager of raping her while she was inebriated after a night of forced drinking while entertaining clients earlier this year in July.
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The employee said she was peer pressured into drinking heavily at the gathering on July 27, where she was allegedly groped by a client. Afterwards she accused her manager of raping her later that same evening.
The manager accused of the assault has since been fired, and the case has given further impetus to China’s resurgent #MeToo movement in the wake of allegations against entertainer Kris Wu.
Alibaba’s chief executive also lashed out at what he calls the company’s “ugly forced drinking culture”. Together with the accusations that Wu date raped young fans using alcohol, troubling questions have been raised about China’s evolving drinking culture in both workplaces and social settings.
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A string of accidents, rapes and violent assaults involving alcohol in recent years has health experts increasingly alarmed about the treatment of women and how China’s rising prosperity is changing patterns of alcohol consumption.
Work hard, drink harder
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