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LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 4321 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Thursday, 13 December 2018 The Council continued to meet at Nine o'clock MEMBERS PRESENT: THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE ANDREW LEUNG KWAN-YUEN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN THE HONOURABLE LEUNG YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ABRAHAM SHEK LAI-HIM, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE TOMMY CHEUNG YU-YAN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JEFFREY LAM KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STARRY LEE WAI-KING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, G.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PRISCILLA LEUNG MEI-FUN, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS REGINA IP LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.S., J.P. 4322 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 THE HONOURABLE PAUL TSE WAI-CHUN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CLAUDIA MO THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL TIEN PUK-SUN, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STEVEN HO CHUN-YIN, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE FRANKIE YICK CHI-MING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WU CHI-WAI, M.H. THE HONOURABLE YIU SI-WING, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHARLES PETER MOK, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHI-CHUEN THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAN-PAN, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG, S.B.S., M.H., J.P. THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LEUNG THE HONOURABLE ALICE MAK MEI-KUEN, B.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE KWOK KA-KI THE HONOURABLE KWOK WAI-KEUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHRISTOPHER CHEUNG WAH-FUNG, S.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE FERNANDO CHEUNG CHIU-HUNG DR THE HONOURABLE HELENA WONG PIK-WAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 4323 THE HONOURABLE IP KIN-YUEN DR THE HONOURABLE ELIZABETH QUAT, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LIAO CHEUNG-KONG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE POON SIU-PING, B.B.S., M.H. DR THE HONOURABLE CHIANG LAI-WAN, S.B.S., J.P. IR DR THE HONOURABLE LO WAI-KWOK, S.B.S., M.H., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHUNG KWOK-PAN THE HONOURABLE ALVIN YEUNG THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WAN SIU-KIN THE HONOURABLE CHU HOI-DICK THE HONOURABLE JIMMY NG WING-KA, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE JUNIUS HO KWAN-YIU, J.P. THE HONOURABLE HO KAI-MING THE HONOURABLE LAM CHEUK-TING THE HONOURABLE HOLDEN CHOW HO-DING THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-FAI THE HONOURABLE WILSON OR CHONG-SHING, M.H. THE HONOURABLE YUNG HOI-YAN DR THE HONOURABLE PIERRE CHAN 4324 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHUN-YING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE HUI CHI-FUNG THE HONOURABLE LUK CHUNG-HUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LAU IP-KEUNG, B.B.S., M.H., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE CHENG CHUNG-TAI THE HONOURABLE KWONG CHUN-YU THE HONOURABLE JEREMY TAM MAN-HO THE HONOURABLE GARY FAN KWOK-WAI THE HONOURABLE AU NOK-HIN THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG WING-SHUN, M.H. THE HONOURABLE TONY TSE WAI-CHUEN, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE CHAN HOI-YAN MEMBERS ABSENT: PROF THE HONOURABLE JOSEPH LEE KOK-LONG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE DENNIS KWOK WING-HANG THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-CHUN THE HONOURABLE TANYA CHAN THE HONOURABLE LAU KWOK-FAN, M.H. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 4325 PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING: THE HONOURABLE WONG KAM-SING, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT DR THE HONOURABLE LAW CHI-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE DR CHUI TAK-YI, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE: MS ANITA SIT, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL MISS FLORA TAI YIN-PING, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL MS DORA WAI, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL MR MATTHEW LOO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL 4326 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 MEMBERS' MOTIONS DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Good morning Members. Council will now resume. Debate on motion with no legislative effect. The motion debate on "Requesting the Government to set up crisis support centres for sexual violence victims and abused children in public hospitals". Members who wish to speak will please press the "Request to speak" button. I call upon Dr Pierre CHAN to speak and move the motion. REQUESTING THE GOVERNMENT TO SET UP CRISIS SUPPORT CENTRES FOR SEXUAL VIOLENCE VICTIMS AND ABUSED CHILDREN IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS DR PIERRE CHAN (in Cantonese): Good morning, Deputy President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed. In view of the rising trend in the number of cases of sexual violence and child abuse in Hong Kong in recent years and apart from the insufficient support given by the Government over the years, I propose today's motion on "Requesting the Government to set up crisis support centres for sexual violence victims and abused children in public hospitals". My purpose is to arouse the concern of the public in society and to strengthen the support to these victims. The following speech is divided into five parts. First, let me explain why I urge the Government to set up crisis support centres in public hospitals in the New Territories, on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon respectively to provide 24-hour one-stop services. The Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women―RainLily, announced on 30 May this year that during the 2000-2017 period, 3 501 assistance cases in total were received. They include rape, indecent assault and sexual harassment cases. The number of indecent assault cases increased by 116% in 2017. The situation is worth our concern when Chinese and overseas artists and local female track athletes suffered sexual abuse came out to campaign for the "#MeToo" movement and stood up to bring to light their unfortunate past experiences. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 4327 At present, only the Prince of Wales Hospital in the New Territories East Cluster has designated a room as a crisis support centre to provide sexual violence victims with 24-hour one-stop services, but such services are not provided by the hospital. In fact, the centre is run and coordinated by a non-profit making organization. The organization raises all the funds by itself. Little has been done by the Government as far as the services provided to sexual violence victims at the Accident and Emergency Department ("AED") of other public hospitals are concerned. As a sexual violence victim will only be considered one of the service targets of AED, the victim has to go through the triage and evaluation system and wait for treatment at the hospital's lobby as other patients. The doctor will refer the case to the Police posted at AED for inquiry only if the victim agrees to report the case. The victim will then be transferred to another location. There is no designated room for video recording the process. Some victims recalled that as soon as the curtain was brought down or once they were brought to a corner of AED, the inquiry and the taking of statements began. After the Police had taken the statements, the case was handed over to the relevant police district and forensic department for collection of evidence. That involves a third venue where the doctor starts to diagnose the victim to see if he or she had to be hospitalized for treatment. During the entire process, the victim has to keep on giving an account of the sexual abuse incident. It not only aggravates the trauma but also affects the decision to report the incident. A Survey on Hong Kong Women's Experience of Sexual Violence 2013 published by the Hong Kong Women's Coalition on Equal Opportunities shows that every one in seven women in Hong Kong has been victimized by sexual violence, and one sexual violence case occurs in every 7.4 hours. Nevertheless, among the 49% respondents who claimed that they were subjected to sexual violence, only less than 3% of them had reported their cases to the Police. But why? A few days ago, a victim with the pseudonym "Melody" told the media that she was reporting her case to the Police on the next day after she was sexually abused. She was accompanied by a friend to report the case and she had not even thought that she had to clear a series of hurdles. She had to repeat her statements five times, starting from the report room to the criminal investigation unit. She had to repeat numerous times about her painful ordeal of being raped. From such cases we may understand why the crime reporting rate of these cases 4328 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 December 2018 is so low. The complicated reporting process has actually aggravated the trauma of the victims. At present, 24-hours one-stop crisis support centres for sexual violence victims have been set up in the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. It is reported that after the crisis centre opened in Malaysia, the reporting rate for sexual assault cases has increased. For that reason, I urge the Government to allocate additional resources to the Hospital Authority. According to the guidelines for medico-legal care for victims of sexual violence issued by the World Health Organization, a crisis support centre should be set up in public hospitals respectively in the New Territories, on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon to provide sexual violence victims and abused children with 24-hour one-stop services.

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