342 Public Order
and handling of child abuse and domestic violence for the public and concerned professionals from the Government and non-governmental organisations.
In 2004, the Police investigated 115 child abuse cases (110 involving sexual abuse and five involving serious physical abuse). The figure increased by 10.6 per cent compared with a total of 104 cases in 2003. Joint investigations have been conducted with the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in cases that required immediate social work intervention.
In 2004, various training programmes were put in place to enhance the professional knowledge of police officers and SWD officers investigating into child. abuse cases. Lectures were also organised for Court Prosecutors on how to handle vulnerable witnesses in court. An enhanced training package on handling domestic violence, elder abuse and family disputes was also produced for frontline police. officers.
In 2004, there were 903 spouse battering cases, representing an increase of 13 per cent as compared with 2003. Following the Tin Shui Wai family tragedy in April 2004, there was increased public awareness of domestic violence. In addition to scheduled training and the referral mechanism with SWD, steps were taken to streamline the handling procedures for domestic violence, and the inter-departmental liaison on these cases.
Although child pornography and child sex tourism are not widespread in Hong Kong, the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance was enacted in July 2003 in compliance with the UN Convention on Rights of the Child and the International Labour Organisation's Convention 182. The ordinance, which came into operation in December 2003, enabled a wider scope of enforcement against child sex related activities. In support of an Interpol initiative, the Police mounted an intelligence-led operation against internet child pornography in May 2004 and arrested 24 persons. Twelve have been convicted of a relevant offence so far. The success of the operation has helped to raise public awareness of the criminality of such activities.
Commercial Crime
During the year, the number of reports of syndicated and serious fraud cases handled by the Commercial Crime Bureau declined by 17 per cent (69 compared with 83 in 2003) and the reported total financial losses in such cases decreased slightly by 2 per cent ($1,485 million compared with $1,514 million in 2003). The nature of these serious fraud cases continued to be diverse, with no predominant trend observed. Of the reports received, four victims have incurred losses of over $100 million. There was no particular topical fraud that had a significant impact on the society or the business environment.
The Commercial Crime Bureau took action to prevent the emergence of new fraudulent activities, such as a new type of employment fraud in which job-seekers were induced to invest in trading products that could purportedly make them huge profits.