'Sleep with me, not the kids'

Suddenly all kinds of people in China are offering to sleep with the headmaster.

This is a response to a recent spate of sex abuse cases, including that of a school principal who spent the night in a hotel room with four underage girls.

Artists, activists, university students and police officers are photographing themselves - some nude and provocatively posed, some angry and menacing - with the message: "Principal, get a room with me. Leave the pupils alone."

The online campaign - mixing performance art, satire and outrage - has tapped into public anger about sexual abuse of children.

It is a problem in China because of the lack of sex education and because Chinese society has become unmoored from traditional strictures after decades of rapid economic and social change.

Children are vulnerable to the abuse because they have not been adequately prepared, and can be easily intimidated by teachers and other authority figures.

The national debate on the problem began early last month when a primary school principal was caught after spending a night with four schoolgirls - all under 14 - in a hotel room in southern China's Hainan province.

Chen Zaipeng, the principal, has been fired and charged with rape.

At least seven similar cases have emerged over the past three weeks in China. Some victims were as young as eight.

China's Supreme People's Court this week promised to crack down on crimes against children.

The Education Ministry has demanded that sex criminals in the classroom be dealt with "firmly" and that anyone who helps in a cover-up be prosecuted.

The All-China Women's Federation has called for severe punishment for all crimes against girls.

Ye Haiyan, a feminist and advocate of the rights of prostitutes, last month went to Chen's former elementary school to give support to his alleged victims.

She held up a placard with Chen's name on it and telling him to leave the students alone, and supplied the phone contact number of China's women and children's rights hotline.