2026

Li, Yuchen Viveka; Eklund, Lisa

This article adds to the growing body of literature on the #MeToo movement in non-Western contexts. It explores the concept of resilience in the context of workplace sexual harassment in China, drawing on 26 cases from the #MeToo in China Archives (2018–2019). Using thematic analysis, the study examines the actions of the harassed individuals, the support they received, and how they handled and coped with trauma, highlighting how resilience and resistance are shaped within the constraints of a patri-authoritarian context. In such a context, deeply entrenched male-centered ideology and traditional values, coupled with state control and surveillance and limited freedom of expression, create an environment in which sexual harassment is enabled and sustained. Findings reveal that resilience in this context is a dynamic process that unfolds over time. The study demonstrates how resilience can, under shifting structural conditions, evolve into visible acts of resistance. Additionally, resilience is not only externalized through social and political action but also internalized as cognitive resilience, as victim-survivors move beyond internalized self-blame and patriarchal definitions of love and sexuality.