Domestic violence has been hobbling Hong Kong despite state and private efforts to root out this social problem. Surprisingly, it's not the men that are getting more violent, since last year's statistics show an increasing number of female abusers.

 

Committed to early intervention and prevention, the Harmony House has set up a "screening program" in the Tuen Mun Hospital, Tsuen Kwan O Hospital and the United Christian Hospital, where doctors in the accident and emergency wards ask patients about spousal abuse in the past year.

 

From January to November 2006, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) handled as many as 208 cases of domestic violence, which were followed up by the Harmony House or referred to other organizations.

 

Though most of the victims are still women, CIT supervisor Lai Yee-man said the percentage of male victims had risen to 12 percent. A total of 981 people called Harmony House's hotline last year seeking help, with 134 of these encouragingly being perpetrators.

 

"Many of the hospital cases we handle are long-term ones in which the women cannot help but fight back after suffering physical abuse for years," Lai said. "We've dealt with male victims in hospitals, but it gets tricky when man and woman both are injured."

 

While legal procedures are usually long-drawn and complex issues for couples, follow-up counseling, too, can prove daunting. Many abusers, both men and women, said they were provoked into physical violence.

 

"There may be some re-positioning in our counseling. Yet in cases in which men and women both are abusers, we try to make them understand that violence can only result from one or both," Lai said.

 

Shirley Tang, senior social work practitioner of the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society (HKFWS), said women, too, resorted to physical abuse. "There are many reasons for the conflicts besides extra-marital affairs and they occur in couples of all social backgrounds. But female abusers are generally more eager to seek help as they wish to stop violence at home," Tang said.

 

Growing domestic violence prompted the HKFWS to adopt a new counseling course for women last October. Eight women have attended the three-month course to date, and the HKFWS will follow them for a further six months. The second course starts this month.

 

The real problem, Tang said, is the lack of public awareness.

 

"Local bodies still have a lot to do in terms of early intervention, for most cases handled by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) are already very serious," Tang said. "But public perception of domestic violence may change after the Domestic Violence Ordinance is amended."

 

Acknowledging the need for more men to seek counseling, SWD spokesperson Elaine Li said they could go to any of the numerous integrated family service centers.

 

The SWD has been investing more resources into its Family and Child Protective Services Units to reach more people suffering from cases of domestic violence.

 

(China Daily January 12, 2007)