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Press Release

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

On the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25), the Women's Commission (WoC) called upon all sectors of the community to dedicate ourselves to eliminating domestic violence and make concerted efforts to combat the problem collaboratively and creatively.

The Chairperson of the WoC, Ms Sophia Kao, said today (November 24): "Domestic violence is not just a private matter of individual families, but a social problem impacting on the wider community.  It involves multi-faceted factors relating to individuals, families, the community and society at large, and hence requires multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral cooperation in tackling it.

"The recent family tragedy in Lok Fu and the rising number of domestic violence cases have added impetus for us not only to act, and to act swiftly."

In January 2006, the WoC published a report on "Women's Safety in Hong Kong: Eliminating Domestic Violence", in which it promotes a multi-dimensional strategy to tackle domestic violence, and advocates gender awareness in the society, gender equality and mutual respect within the family and involving men in the process.

 Ms Kao said the WoC recognised the efforts by the various government departments in making improvement measures to strengthen prevention of domestic violence and enhance services and support for victims of domestic violence.

"We urge the government to continue to accord priority to eliminating domestic violence.  More importantly, we appeal to all stakeholders to align efforts in promoting awareness and changing attitudes and in early identification of abuse. It is crucial to engage the collaborated and coordinated efforts of the professionals, as well as everyone in the community to proactively build a community and neighborhood network that renders care and support to the vulnerable ones, and empowers them to seek help," Ms Kao said.

Ends/Friday, November 24, 2006