MOTHERS escaping domestic violence are forced to live with discrimination and harassment because there are no guidelines in granting compassionate rehousing, social workers say.
Harmony House, a voluntary body which helps battered wives, said the Social Welfare Department had been inconsistent in accepting victims' requests for compassionate rehousing.
Women face great difficulties in finding accommodation, because landlords fear they will be unable to pay rent and their children will annoy other tenants.
Some mothers had been bullied and sexually harassed in multi-household apartments because of their single status, said Harmony House spokesman Irene Ng Wai-ching.
'Whether the application is successful or not depends on the welfare officers' judgment,' Ms Ng said.
'There should be a guideline for the officers - who may not recognise single mothers' problems - to follow,' she said.
Fujianese migrant Mak Kwok-mui, 40, who left her home in Sha Tin in June said a welfare officer had urged her to return to her husband.