the Sisters has met with notable success in that some 90% of the gi.. passing through their hands have been fully restored to normal life. The Po Leung Kuk, besides its work for children which is referred to in paragraph 28, provides a refuge for unmarried mothers (and their children), who so badly need sympathetic care and understanding.
41. The Women's and Girls' Section undertook some seventy prostitutes as new cases. This was a considerable decrease as compared with the previous year. It reflects a drop in the numbers referred by the Police rather than in the prevalence of prostitution. About one-third of these, who were under the age of eighteen, were referred to Pelletier Hall for institutional care. The others were given temporary help in the form of food, clothing or financial assistance while efforts were made to find jobs for them.
42. Some one hundred new cases of adolescent girls in moral danger came to the notice of the Section. They were referred by a number of agencies, official and voluntary, as well as by the Courts and parents or guardians.
43. Jobs were found for 241 girls who had been under the care of the Section. Some were placed in textile mills and others as assistants in nurseries. Some girls who had come to the end of their course of training in Pelletier Hall found work in a textile company making shirts on high speed electric machines (employment for which special training is provided at the Home), as typists or shop assistants or as domestic servants.
44. The staff of the Section was strengthened during the year by the addition of four new Assistant Women's and Girls' Officers. The Section was thereby enabled to make home visits and give advice at office interviews on a more extensive scale than before. In particular, the victims of eighty nine cases of indecent assault, as compared with seven in the previous year, were assisted and their parents or guardians advised, in overcoming this severe shock and injury to the personality. As an extension of its services the Women's and Girls' Section has recently advised in a limited number of domestic disputes and this year helped 102 couples with their problems, seventeen more than in the previous year. Cases involving young girls were referred by the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, or by Almoners of the Medical Department as well as by voluntary agencies. The number of home visits increased from about 200 to 750 and of office interviews from some 6,500 to 8,500 over the previous year. Detailed figures will be found in Appendix 10.
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