China's labour camps and its apparent systems and necessity are now put in the spotlight. A high court in the central Chinese province of Hunan has ordered authorities behind the labour camp system in Yongzhou to pay Tang Hui a total of $430 for sending her to labour camp in a bid to silence her following her protests against her daughter's rapists.

China’s Labour Camps in Spotlight After Court Awards Mother Who Got Arrested For Lodging Rape Protest Held Over Daughter

Ms Tang is the mother of an 11-year-old kidnapping, rape and forced prostitution victim. In August 2012, authorities sent her to a re-education through labor camp for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" because she dared to raise her voice to question her child's rapists got off easy. Her incident sparked nationwide outcry against the perceived necessity of the country's controversial labour-camp system.

In place since 1957, China's "re-education through labor" system gives police and other law enforcement-affiliated agencies to imprison people without a court process, which could last for up to four years.

Workers in the Shayang Re-education Through Labor camp; photo from the archives of the Laogai Museum

The $430 compensation awarded by the Hunan Provincial People's High Court on Monday actually came as a surprise to Ms Tang and her group because it overturned an earlier April decision from a lower court.

Effectively, the Hunan Provincial People's High Court ordered the Yongzhou municipal re-education through labour commission to pay Ms Tang $430 in compensation for mental distress and infringement of personal freedom.

"Thanks to all of you," Ms Tang said on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging service, right after the announcement on the decision was released.

Ms Tang figured in the spotlight because she publicly urged for the death penalty for all the seven men implicated and convicted of the kidnapping and raping of her daughter. Kidnapped in October 2006, the girl was rescued on December of the same year.

The guilty verdict against the seven men was handed down in June 2012.

Chinese netizens, even the state media, questioned the existence of the labour-camp system. Many believed it violated human rights and the rule of law.

Following Ms Tang's high profile case, people from China want the "re-education through labor" system repealed.