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The Government had all along adopted a policy of no tolerance to domestic violence and was committed to combating the problem, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai, said today (January 31) at the 䩕Strengthening Families and Combatting Violence蒅 - 2007 Seminar on Sharing of District Good Practices.
Mr Tang stressed that cross-sectoral collaboration was crucial in the prevention and intervention of this difficult and challenging task. He hoped that through a series of seminars, concerted efforts could be called for to tackle the problem.
At the seminar, representatives from three District Social Welfare Offices (Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Kwun Tong) with a higher number of domestic violence cases shared their experiences in implementing innovative projects with strategic intervention in combatting domestic violence in the districts.
䩕These three projects have something in common: they do not only rely on following-up work after acts of violence or solely the efforts of social workers to tackle the problem. We have to admit that even social workers have their limitations. Only with concerted efforts can we achieve a more effective outcome,蒅 Mr Tang said.
He explained that the Government had launched a series of preventive measures to combat domestic violence. These measures are targeted at three levels - the community as a whole, specific groups or districts, and at-risk families.
For the community as a whole, the Government had launched a series of publicity and educational programmes, including the production of radio and TV Announcements in the Public Interest, organisation of district activities and broadcast of TV and radio programmes. The Government had also piloted the Comprehensive Child Development Service in July, 2005, to identify children who warranted early intervention.
The Social Welfare Department had just launched the Family Support Programme to reach out to needy families who were unwilling to seek help through telephone contacts, home visits and other outreach services. These families were encouraged to receive various supporting services. Volunteers who had similar experiences in the past also assisted them in forming social support network.
Mr Tang added that to help solve child caring problems, the service hours of some nurseries, kindergartens and occasional childcare services had been extended. Day foster care service would be provided and some mutual help childcare programmes would also be subvented.
For specific groups and districts, the Community Investment & Inclusion Fund had sponsored non-governmental organisations in developing district-based mutual help networks with focus on prevention and intervention of domestic violence. The Integrated Family Services Centres also organised various groups to suit the needs of specific groups of people such as single parents and new arrivals.
As for families at risk, the department had, since January last year, introduced a pilot project 䩕Batterer Intervention Programme蒅. So far, 11 counselling groups had been conducted with the participation of 88 batterers.
䩕Upon completion of the pilot programme by March, 2008, we expect no less than 27 counselling groups will have been organised. We are hopeful that a more effective strategy can be developed for these families to prevent the problem from worsening,蒅 Mr Tang said.
He added that the number of domestic violence cases was still on the increase. According to statistics, newly reported battered spouse and child abuse cases from January to September, 2006, were 3,412 and 594 respectively, representing respective increases of 37.1% and 6.6% when compared with the figures in the same period in 2005.
Mr Tang said the increase was expected as the awareness of the public, frontline staff and the victims was enhanced as a result of the stepping up of public education, publicity and training by the Government. The problem was also attributed by the increase in the number of cross-boundary marriages and separated families. A person﷿s psychological health would also affect his ability in taking a responsible attitude to behave properly at times of adversity.
Mr Tang said the department﷿s Family and Child Protective Services Units had grown from five to eight teams and would further expand to 10 teams in 2007-08. As for manpower establishment, both supervisory and frontline workers had been increased. In the coming year, the department would continue to monitor closely the need for team splitting and additional manpower of social workers.
He added that the places in women﷿s refuge centres would increase from 162 last year to 180 by March this year, while the department would continue to look for more resources to strengthen the service this year.
䩕In fact, four women refuge centres have been working closely as a network by referring cases to other centres if the capacity of any centre is temporarily taken up. This will ensure that all needy cases are well taken care of,蒅 he said.
Mr Tang gave special thanks to the guest speakers Ms Cheung Yuk-ching, Assistant Director of Programme (Pre-migration Programme/Intercountry Casework Programme) of International Social Service Hong Kong; and Ms Jessie Yu Sau-chu, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Single Parent Association. Ms Cheung spoke on challenges facing cross-boundary families after arriving in Hong Kong while Ms Yu gave overall comments on the discussion today.
Mr Tang urged all participants today to promote actively cross-sectoral participation in the prevention and intervention of domestic violence to strengthen family and build a harmonious society.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:06
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