Chinese authorities are cracking down on gay erotic fiction, with dozens of writers - many of them young women - facing brutal interrogations.
Under the clampdown, which began in February, authors found guilty of producing and distributing 'obscene materials' could spend up to 10 years behind bars, the BBC reports.
At the centre of the crackdown is 'danmei', a type of erotic fiction that details sexual relations between male characters, and is mostly read and written by straight women.
Originally from Japan, the genre has become increasingly popular in China as it offers its readers an alternative to the stereotypes of passive and obedient women in heterosexual relationships.
But as danmei grows more popular in China, state media has begun to brand the genre as 'vulgar', claiming that its gay story lines could distort the sexual orientations of readers.
One woman, video mesum who goes by the name Pingping Anan Yongfu on social platform Weibo, was arrested and detailed her horrific ordeal online.
'I'll never forget it - being escorted to the car in full view, enduring the humiliation of stripping naked for examination in front of strangers, putting on a vest for photos, sitting in the chair, shaking with fear, my heart pounding,' she wrote.
But Pingping, whose post quickly went viral, was forced to delete her post.
Chinese police have arrested dozens of authors - who are mainly young women - who write gay erotic fiction
One female writer detailed her horrifying arrest on social media before deleting her account
She then admitted that she had broken the law and deleted her account.
The female authors who have been arrested so far this year had published their work on Haitian Literature City, a Taiwanese website that distributes 'danmei' content.
The harsh crackdown by Chinese authorities has prompted an online debate.
One Weibo user wrote: 'Is sex really something to be ashamed of?'.
Other online commentators have noted that some people convicted of rape have received lighter sentences than 'danmei' authors.
Meanwhile, #AuthorsArrested trended on Weibo before the tag was censored.
This is not the first time China has sought to silence erotic fiction authors.
Last year, 50 writers who had their work published on the site were prosecuted.
In 2018, authorities launched a campaign to 'eradicate pornography and illegal publications' by offering financial rewards for reporting banned content to police.
Weibo also made the decision to remove pornographic and gay content, but then reversed its decision after widespread criticism.
That same year, a Chinese author named only as Liu was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she self-published a book that 'obscenely and in detail described gay male-male acts'.
The court ruled that the strict sentence was enforced due to her having made 150,000 yuan (£16,774.1) by selling over 7,000 copies.
The case went viral on Chinese social media as commentators asked how such a punishment made sense when some sexual assault cases often drew lighter sentences.
Under Chinese pornography laws, 'explicit descriptions of gay sex or other sexual perversions' are strictly prohibited.
While homosexuality is not a crime in China, gay marriage is yet to be legalised , while same sex couples are forbidden from adopting children.
JapanBBCChina
