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Child Sexual Abuse in Hong Kong
Charles O'Brian
Development of Child Protection in Hong Kong
The detection of and response to child abuse within the
family is a relatively new phenomenon in Hong Kong. The Chinese
family is reluctant to open itself to investigation from professional
workers. However, Hong Kong had to act when in 1978 a severely
abused 10-year-old girl made her way to a police station,
resulting in a public outcry. Out of a meeting of concerned
professionals that same year, the voluntary organization Against
Child Abuse was formed.
In 1979, to coincide with the International Year of the
Child, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service prepared a
report which included a study of child abuse in Hong Kong.
In 1981 the Social Welfare Department issued guidelines of
procedures to be used in handling child abuse cases. In June
1983, the Child Protection Unit of the Social Welfare Department
was set up to deal with those cases that had gone through
the statutory procedures.
In the same year the Secretary of Health and Welfare announced
the formation of an inter-departmental working group to review
and clarify procedures in child abuse cases. In 1989 the Central
Register for Child Abuse and Neglect was opened.
The procedures currently cover the responsibility of statutory
and voluntary social work agencies, as well as related and
concerned bodies such as hospitals, schools and the police.
Some 100 children are placed on Child Protection Orders each
year and others are placed on the Central Abuse Register.
Prevalence and Reporting of Sexual Abuse in Hong Kong
Research in this area in Hong Kong is at a very early stage.
However, those studies that have been published (Ho and Lieh
Mak, 1992, Ho and Kwok, 1991) suggest that as elsewhere the
phenomenon is severely under-reported.
There has been a recent dramatic increase in reported cases.
In the first quarter of 1992, out of the 425 active cases
of child abuse, 17 (4%) were classified as sexual abuse. For
the last quarter of 1993 these figures are 456 and 63 (14%).
The cause of this increase in the figures is not immediately
apparent. One explanation, by those in the field, is that
more cases are coming to light in the course of work that
is initiated for other reasons. In other words, young people
involved with social workers or other professionals may be
starting to reveal that they have been abused. Peter Chan,
the Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth,
voices the view "that students being sexually abused at home
talk first about academic problems or something, and it is
some time before the real problem is identified".
A recently completed study (Chan and O'Brian, 1995) obtained
the views and experiences of nearly 500 professionals from
different disciplines and agencies. The lack of clear definitions,
the lack of adequate training in child protection, the lack
of authority to intervene, insufficient cooperation among
different professionals and an inadequacy of immediate safe
havens for abused children are all factors which leave professional
workers feeling most vulnerable and unable to respond adequately
to cases like this.
Recent cases, under severe media scrutiny, have highlighted
inadequacies in the system. This has led the Social Welfare
Department to set up the Task Group on Handling Procedures
on Child Sexual Abuse Cases. One of the proposals is the formation
of a Special Investigation Team made up of police officers
and social workers from the government Child Protection Services
Unit. Changes in the legislation to allow videotaped interviews
as evidence in sensitive cases is also planned.
However, this increased awareness of child sexual abuse
may lead to greater protection for children, but there is
also the danger of the system becoming swamped without adequate
resources for follow-up treatment and rehabilitation
The Way Ahead
It is generally acknowledged that the known cases of child
sexual abuse in Hong Kong represent a very small percentage
of the actual number. Public education and prevention is an
important step. In at least two recent cases of incest the
victims have said that they disclosed the abuse because of
a public service announcement on the television.
The Social Welfare Department has recently distributed a
leaflet on child sexual abuse to social service agencies and
other community centres. This is a good preliminary step in
a public education campaign. However, the leaflet itself has
limitations as it is not culture specific.
Sex education is a sensitive subject when placed on the
school curriculum. However, if we are to take sexual abuse
seriously, children have to be taught how to protect themselves.
Chinese children are particularly mindful of hierarchy in
their relations with adults. Ho and Lieh Mak (1992) show how
the traditional relationship between Chinese parents and children
can lend itself to an abusive relationship. Therefore children
have to learn how to say "No".
Multi-disciplinary collaboration and training is another
area that needs development. Too often professionals pull
in different directions (O'Brian and Lau, 1994) with a great
deal of energy spent on trying to decide if abuse has taken
place, with little or no future plans for treatment and rehabilitation
programmes.
Conclusion
Hong Kong is on the threshold of paying greater attention
to the trauma of child sexual abuse. If the reporting rate
continues to increase then we must be prepared to deal with
the consequences. There is little point in starting evangelical
crusades without having the resources to deal with the consequences.
We need more research, more training, more public education,
better coordination between professionals, and a review of
the statutory provisions. We need this now, before the floodgates
are opened and we are swamped by cases of child sexual abuse.
The danger of not doing so is that we expose the victims of
child sexual abuse to risk of further damage from a system
that cannot respond adequately. All these areas need resources,
leadership and the will for it to happen.
Charles O'Brian
City University of Hong Kong
Dept. of Applied Social Studies
83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Fax: (852) 2788 8960
References:
Chan, W.T. and O'Brian, C.P. (1995). Child protection
in Hong Kong: Identification and intervention in cases of
child abuse. Hong Kong: ACA. In Press.
Ho, T.P. and Kwok, W.M. (1991). Child sexual abuse in
Hong Kong. Child Abuse and Neglect. Vol.15, 597-600.
Ho, T.P. and Lieh-Mak, F. (1992). Sexual abuse in children:
A review of 134 cases. Australian and New Zealand Journal
of Psychiatry. December, Vol. 26(4), 639-643.
O'Brian, C.P. and Lau, L. (1994). Defining child abuse
in Hong Kong. Child Abuse Review. Vol.4: 38-46. (Continued
from page 8)
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