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SCMP Reporter

TWO separate delegations of Hong Kong women will head for China this week to offer contrasting views on women's issues in the territory at the huge non-governmental organisation women's forum which begins in the mainland on Wednesday.

  A 61-group alliance, the Hong Kong NGO Working Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, will set up a 'Hong Kong tent' at the NGO conference site in Huairou, an hour's drive from Beijing.

  Workshops and exhibitions highlighting women's issues in the territory will be held in the tent.

  The NGO Working Group is backed by the powerful Hong Kong Federation of Women and will send 350 delegates to China. A 12-member team will attend as observers at the UN World Women's Conference, which begins on September 4 in Beijing.

  Meanwhile, 80 delegates from the smaller, more radical Hong Kong Women's Coalition for Beijing 95, representing 14 women's groups, will be lobbying other delegates at Huairou. Six of the Coalition's representatives will participate in the UN meeting as observers.

  Coalition convenor Shum Yun-shan said they would distribute extracts from their report on women in Hong Kong, compiled as an alternative to the Government's report to the official conference, to other delegates.

  They will also lobby British officials in a bid to revive the Equal Opportunities Bill voted down in the last Legislative Council session.

  'We hope to learn from overseas groups' experience in promoting the women's movement,' Ms Shum said.

  Up to 30,000 women from around the world are expected to attend the NGO forum.

  The official UN conference will see government representatives from 180 countries discussing the status of women around the world and endorsing a platform for action.

  The two Hong Kong groups have been working separately towards the conference over the past months. When the NGO forum was moved from Beijing to Huairou earlier this year, the Working Group had no objection to the change, while the Coalition felt NGO representatives would be isolated from the officials gathered in Beijing.

  The Working Group is also a member of the Asian & Pacific NGO Working Group, shunned by the Coalition which sees it as pro-government in nature. Instead, the Coalition has aligned itself with an activist body, the Asian Pacific Women Action Network.

  Both groups are concerned about Hong Kong husbands keeping mistresses in the mainland, the need for better family education and support services for estranged wives, but differ on some fundamental issues, such as the recently-passed Sex Discrimination Bill.

  While the NGO Working Group fully backs the bill, the Coalition sees it as an inadequate piece of legislation which won't effectively stop discrimination in the territory.

  The Coalition's member organisations, which include the Federation of Women's Centres, the Association for the Advancement of Feminism (AAF) and the Hong Kong Christian Women's Council, are annoyed that it fails to provide adequate remedies for victims of discrimination, and is filled with exemptions. For example, it allows the New Territories small-house policy, which favours male indigenous residents' inheritance rights, to continue.

  The Coalition's Ms Shum said: 'Our concern is mainly grassroot women. With changes in the economy, women between the ages of 30 and 40 now have great difficulty getting a job. The contributions of housewives are not recognised widely and there are also the issues of sexual harassment and rights of New Territories women.' At Huairou, the Working Group's exhibition and workshop on the New Territories will focus on the function of women's centres there.

  Other topics to be highlighted by the Working Group include the effects of economic transition on women, health (physical and psychological), women and politics and social stereotypes. During the forum, the Working Group will also engage in cultural exchange activities, running several programmes at the 'Friendship Tent' and 'Youth Tent' organised by the Asian & Pacific NGO Working Group.

   Deputy convenor Elsie Leung Oi-sie says they want to convey the message that 'we have confidence in the future of Hong Kong and we shall collectively do our best for Hong Kong'.

   Ms Leung stresses her group is not out to lobby or do battle with Hong Kong or British officials. Their primary goals are to reveal to other nations the issues here, and to monitor the implementation of the Plan of Action on the status of women to be drawn up during the conference.

  Meanwhile, the Coalition will be urging priority in public housing for single mothers, citing cases of sexual harassment against lone mothers in shared accommodation and the speedy introduction of the International Covenant for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Hong Kong.

   Ms Shum is not happy with the composition of the official Hong Kong delegation, made up of the Secretary of Home Affairs Michael Suen Ming-yeung and Assistant Principal Secretary for Home Affairs Susie Ho Suk-yee, as she feels it does not reflect local women at all levels,   'It does not matter so much whether a man is leading the team or not, but a women's group representative should have been included in the delegation,' she said.

  The Coalition will also be actively promoting its alternative report on women in Hong Kong as it believes the Hong Kong Government's report to the United Nations presents too rosy a picture.

  Despite their differing approaches, Ms Shum sees no problem with two groups representing the territory.

   'There can be different voices within a country; the case of Hong Kong is simply typical of what happens elsewhere.'   AAF chairwoman Lily Lau Lee-lee agrees: 'It's a healthy thing to have differing views. This will attract more attention to women's issues. You can't have one voice speaking on behalf of all others. Nowhere is there a united front in the women's movement.' 



A double-edged sword