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When asked if she was surprised that most of the victims of Zhenhao Zou, who could be one of Britain’s worst serial rapists, remained unknown to authorities, Viny Poon, who has spent the past decade supporting east Asian women in the UK, simply said: “No.”
Zou, a 28-year-old PhD student, was convicted on Wednesday of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China. After recovering videos of Zou attacking a further 50 women, police have said this could be one of the worst cases of sexual violence in modern Britain. All of Zou’s victims are thought to be of Chinese heritage.
While some may be unaware they were raped, others may have chosen not to come forward. Poon, a trustee at the Chinese Information and Advice Centre (CIAC), explained why this may be. “In Chinese culture, people lock everything up inside,” she said. “They won’t tell anybody, they think this is very shameful. They will hide things, even from their parents. They struggle by themselves.”
She added: “It’s not just about shame. Some women fear that if they tell their parents, they will be forced to leave university and return home. Others worry their families will blame them, so they suffer in silence.”
Organisations such as CIAC, the Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association (SEEAWA), and Southall Black Sisters, who between them have been campaigning against violence and abuse for nearly 50 years, say that while survivors across the UK often feel isolated, cases like this highlight cultural and linguistic barriers, as well as structural racism within institutions, that prevent women from accessing support or justice.
Sarah Reid, the fundraising manager and head of public policy for SEEAWA, said: “There’s just so much unmet need, from language barriers, wanting a woman to talk to if you’re a woman victim, to navigating the police and the health system, as well as being a migrant and having to pay very high fees to use the NHS.
“There is a huge enormous cost to study as a student from China, it’s such an investment. Lots of Chinese families and Asian families put so much into it, so if that is tainted, I can imagine that there’s a lot of shame, not just for yourself but to your wider family and community.”
Sarah Yeh, the chair of SEEAWA, said: “Rape is stigmatised in all east and south-east Asian cultures. It’s often a case of victim-blaming, as it is in the wider UK community as well. Often women don’t really know their rights, especially if they’re coming to a foreign country. So it’s about building awareness and a greater understanding that there is help out there that they can tap into.”
All three organisations regularly receive case referrals from universities and local authorities, but this case underscores the urgent need for increased funding to meet the growing demand for support.
Zou first caught the attention of police in May 2023 after a woman reported being raped at his apartment. The Metropolitan police later expressed “deep regret” over how they handled the initial report. There were issues with the interpreter and an impatient call handler.
Yeh described this as a wider problem of societal neglect. “I understand that one of the women reported to the police and she didn’t have a good experience because the translator wasn’t good so they brushed off her initial complaint,” she said. “It’s stuff like this we really need to work on at a societal level to make sure that people are included, especially people that are coming into our country that haven’t got the experience and culture and understanding of how our legal system works or what protective systems there are in place for us.”
Poon pointed to low prosecution rates for rape as a major factor in victims staying silent. “Many Chinese women don’t report sexual assault because they believe nothing will happen. They think: even if I go to the police, will the man be punished? They feel hopeless about the system.”
Zou’s case comes months after that of Gisèle Pelicot in France, whose husband drugged her and allowed at least 50 men to rape her while she was sedated, and also filmed the attacks.
A spokesperson for Southall Black Sisters said: “Technology has become a powerful tool for perpetrators to abuse women and girls, yet it is still not treated with the urgency it requires. Despite increasing recognition of tech-facilitated abuse … agencies often fail to respond adequately.”
Yeh expressed hope that this case could serve as a wake-up call, both for the east and south-east Asian community and for Britain as a whole.
“The two women that came forward have shown that it’s possible to prosecute a perpetuator like him,” she said. “I hope it opens up more possibilities now that he’s been found guilty.”
