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Domestic violence has been hobbling Hong Kong despite the efforts of the government and self-help groups to root out this social problem.

And surprisingly, it's not the men who are getting more violent, for last year's statistics show an increasing number of woman abusers.

Committed to early intervention and prevention, the Harmony House has set up a "screening program" in the Tuen Mun Hospital, Tsuen Kwan O Hospital and the United Christian Hospital, where doctors in the Accident and Emergency ask patients if they were beaten up by their spouses or partners in the past year.

From January to November 2006, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) handled as many as 208 cases of domestic violence, which were followed up by the Harmony House or referred to other organizations.

Though most of the victims are still women, CIT supervisor Lai Yee-man said the percentage of male victims had risen to 12 percent. A total of 981 people called Harmony House's hotline last year seeking help, with 134 being perpetrators.

"Many of the hospital cases we handle are long-term ones in which the women can't help but fight back after suffering physical abuse for years," Lai said. "We've dealt with male victims in hospitals, but it gets tricky when man and woman both are injured."

While legal procedures are usually long-drawn and complex issues for couples, follow-up counseling, too, is a difficult task. Many abusers, men and women both, said they were provoked into physical violence.

"There may be some re-positioning in our counseling. Yet in cases in which men and women both are abusers, we try to make them understand that violence can only result in to one or both," Lai said.

Shirley Tang, senior social work practitioner of the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society (HKFWS), said women, too, resorted to physical abuse. "There're many reasons for the conflicts besides extra-martial affairs and they occur in couples of all social backgrounds But women abusers are generally more eager to seek help because they want to stop the violence at home," Tang said.

Growing domestic violence prompted the HKFWS to adopt a new counseling course for women last October. Eight women have attended the three-month course to date, and the HKFWS will follow their cases for the next six months. The second course starts this month.

The real problem, Tang said, is the lack of public awareness.

"Local bodies still have a lot to do in terms of early intervention, for most cases handled by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) are already very serious," Tang said.

"But public perception of domestic violence may change after the Domestic Violence Ordinance is amended."

Acknowledging the need for more men to seek counseling, SWD spokesperson Elaine Li said they could go to any of the numerous integrated family service centres.

The SWD has been investing more resources in its Family and Child Protective Services Units to reach out to more people and intervene in cases of domestic violence.

(China Daily 01/12/2007 page4)