7
if current
HONG KONG
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Language, or Social Status
The Chinese language has equal status with English in many government operations. Enabling legislation passed in March 1987 provides for principal legislation to be enacted on a bilingual basis. The Attorney General's chambers, moreover, is responsible for translating existing laws into Chinese. Legco proceedings are also bilingual. The Government is moving ahead quickly in its efforts to "localize" the civil service by increasing the number of Hong Kong Chinese in top administrative and policymaking positions.
In 1987 the Government passed a domestic violence ordinance covering violence inflicted on a legal spouse, cohabitant, or children under 21 years of age. In addition, domestic violence may be prosecuted as common assault under existing criminal statutes. The Government enforces these laws and prosecutes violators. Beginning in 1984, procedures were established with police, hospitals, doctors, and voluntary agencies to report instances of domestic violence and abuse to the Social Welfare Department. Reports are investigated by a case worker. If hospital treatment is required, a resident medical social worker offers the victim counseling and information about shelter, child care, separation, and divorce, as necessary. Government officials say that violence against women is generally not widespread. Figures for cases of battered spouses known to the Government have been dropping over the past 3 years from 685 in 1987/88 to 433 in 1988/89 and 252 in 1989/90. Admissions to two women's refuges, one operated by the Social Welfare Department and the other by Harmony House, a private voluntary agency, have not shown a dramatic increase. The number of women admitted to Harmony House ranged from 166 in 1988, 105 in 1989, and 141 as of late 1990. Figures for the government-run refuge showed a similar trend: 126, 97, and 139. However, a local women's rights group says that the problem of domestic violence has not been significantly alleviated. Harmony House reports a fourfold increase in calls to its 24-hour telephone hot line, installed early in 1990. All sources say that many instances of domestic violence are not reported, owing partly to cultural factors, but also to a lack of well-publicized information about assistance and resources available.
The Bill of Rights, if enacted in its present form, is expected to end traditional male succession rights in the
law is challenged. Fural New Territories.
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Section 6
Worker Rights
The Right of Association
The right of association and the right of workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing are guaranteed under local law. Trade unions must be registered under the Trade Union Ordinance. The basic precondition for registration is that at least seven persons must serve in the same occupation. Once registered, unions become corporate bodies and enjoy immunity from certain civil suite involving breaking of contingent contracts or interference with trade owing to work stoppages by their members. Unions also have the right to elect their own representatives, publicize their views, and determine their own bylaws and policies in representing members' interests. The Government does not discourage or impede union formation. An amendment to the