Legislation
HKABPW Campaigns and Legislations (Cantonese)
HKABPW Campaigns and Legislations (Mandarin)
Since 1979 HKABPW has campaigned to improve the status of and opportunities for women and girls in Hong Kong. The Association has been closely involved with the passage of many significant laws to protect and improve women's rights.
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HKABPW’s Role in the Campaign for CEDAW and the Sex Discrimination Ordinance |
Prior to the 1990s the Hong Kong government was staunchly opposed to the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation. Although the United Kingdom ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1986, it did not extend the treaty to Hong Kong at that time. The Hong Kong government had expressly requested that CEDAW not apply to Hong Kong. HKABPW raised this issue with the Hong Kong and UK governments four times during the 1980s.
In 1991 the Bill of Rights Ordinance was enacted. It was based upon the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the ICCPR) and was the first Hong Kong law to prohibit discrimination by the government and public authorities. HKABPW and other women’s organisations actively participated in the public consultation on the Bill and argued that it should apply to the private sector as well. Although this argument did not succeed, the women’s movement did raise public awareness and gained important support in the Legislative Council. In 1992, under pressure from HKABPW and other women’s groups, the Hong Kong Government established an “Inter-departmental Working Group” to study sex discrimination and to recommend what measures, if any, should be taken against it. Representatives of HKABPW and other women’s groups met with the Working Group but found that it was not receptive to the concept of anti-discrimination legislation or to the extension of CEDAW to Hong Kong.
Fearing that the government’s Working Party would recommend no reforms, HKABPW asked legislator Emily Lau to sponsor a motion debate calling upon the government to support the extension of CEDAW to Hong Kong. This was the beginning of a long campaign by HKABPW and a coalition of more than 10 other women’s groups. The government rushed through the Working Party report which, as expected, recommended the continuation of the status quo. Nonetheless, in December 1992 the Legislative Council overwhelmingly supported Emily Lau’s motion in support of CEDAW. The government then stalled for time by producing a Green Paper on the subject, which was issued in 1993. Fortunately, the majority of public submissions supported the extension of CEDAW to Hong Kong and also the enactment of legislation prohibiting sex discrimination. In the meantime, legislator Anna Wu had drafted a private member’s bill, the Equal Opportunities Bill, which HKABPW strongly supported. Her bill was based upon Australian legislation and would have prohibited many forms of discrimination, including sex, race, age, disability, and sexuality. The Government was most concerned and in the end introduced its own Sex Discrimination Bill, as a compromise.
The Sex Discrimination Bill was enacted in the summer of 1995, with some amendments based upon Wu’s Bill and submissions by women’s organisations. HKABPW helped to influence the final legislation by arguing strongly that clubs over a certain size should be included. In most other jurisdictions they are excluded. HKABPW also argued, unsuccessfully, that there should be no cap on damages. (Fortunately the cap was subsequently repealed, in 1997, by a bill introduced by Christine Loh.) The government also agreed to establish an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), which HKABPW had lobbied for. The EOC provides free investigation and conciliation services for people filing complaints under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance. The EOC also conducts formal investigations and provides legal assistance in a limited number of cases.
Once the Sex Discrimination Ordinance was enacted, the government agreed that CEDAW could be extended to Hong Kong and it went into force in 1996. Several Hong Kong women’s organisations are now active in the international enforcement process for CEDAW, submitting shadow reports to the United Nations CEDAW Committee and conducting training sessions on the treaty. Comments from the CEDAW Committee on Hong Kong’s initial report were instrumental in persuading the government to establish a Women’s Commission in 2000. The treaty has also been relied upon by the Court of First Instance as a guide to interpreting the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (in the case of EOC v. Director of Education, which held that the government’s system of allocating students to elite secondary schools violated the law). The government recently submitted its second report to the CEDAW Committee, which can be found on the Women’s Commission’s webpage at: http://www.women.gov.hk.
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New Territories Land Inheritance |
HKABPW supported legislator Christine Loh's efforts to have the ban on female inheritance repealed. This was achieved in 1994 but the campaign continued - to oppose, again successfully, its reinstatement after June 1997.
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Equal Rights Legislation |
From 1980 HKABPW took a leading role in calling for Separate Taxation for Women which became effective in 1991 and for Maternity Benefits which, in 1981, granted ten weeks' leave at two third's pay. Members also contributed to the Llewellyn Report on Education in Hong Kong and in 2002 supported the EOC in its efforts to eliminate sex-stereotyping in textbooks.
Through the 1990s HKABPW lobbied government and worked with Anna Wu, Emily Lau and Christine Loh in Legco to oppose discrimination at work, unfair retirement provisions, sexual harrassment and the dismissal of pregnant women by employers so as to avoid payment of maternity benefit.
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Domestic Violence |
HKABPW was active in supporting the passage into law of the Domestic Violence Bill in 1986 and continued its support of Harmony House which was established in 1984. In 2002 HKABPW donated money for outdoor advertising of Harmony House. The Association assisted the Rape Hotline with funding and worked with other women's groups to provide publicity and counselling for rape victims. In 1996 HKABPW wrote to the Attorney General opposing the stipulation which required corroboration in rape trials before a jury and in 1997/98 campaigned for the training of the judiciary in rape cases.
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Family Issues |
In the early 1990s HKABPW wrote to Legco when the number of Family Court judges was reduced from four to two with ensuing long delays in legal matters. The Association questioned Legco over the need for transferral of public housing tenancy rights in divorce cases and was active whenever issues relating to maternity leave, illegitimacy and children left unattended at home were raised. HKABPW has continued to campaign for government and private employers to provide crèches to enable mothers to work. HKABPW is urging the government to provide better services for Mainland Chinese women who face social and economic discrimination when they join their families in Hong Kong.
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Women in Prison |
HKABPW members visited prisons at Tai Lam and Tai Tam in 1991 and recommended the provision of more training opportunities. On a 1993 visit to Tai Tam members were pleased to report that classes in catering, typing and hair dressing were available. A visit to the Vietnamese refugees in Whitehead Detention Centre was conducted in 1994 to obtain information about camp conditions.
