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Fourteen children have been killed since the beginning of 2000 in homicides relating to domestic violence, the latest police figures have revealed.

The number of homicides related to domestic violence rose from 16 in 2000 to 28 last year. The number of children killed in the cases also increased from three to nine.

In the first three months of this year, there were five homicides relating to domestic violence. Two children were among the five. Thirteen people, some of them parents, committed suicide in the cases reported between January 2000 and March 2002.

Of the 1,213 domestic violence cases reported to police last year, 505 involved criminal offences.

In the first three months of this year, 359 cases of domestic violence were reported to police, with 158 involving criminal offences.

Speaking after a conference on domestic violence to mark the International Day of Families yesterday, the head of the Police Child Protection Policy Unit, Superintendent Shirley Chu Ming-po, said domestic violence was becoming more serious in Hong Kong.

'Many families are under pressure and they do not know how to seek help,' she said.

Superintendent Chu said police were seeking advice from the Privacy Commission on whether it would be lawful for police to pass cases to social workers without victims' consent.

'Currently, we only refer cases to the Social Welfare Department or non-governmental organisations after obtaining the victim's consent,' she said.

'We want to refer all cases to social workers so that the abuser can receive some counselling.'

The Social Welfare Department also recorded a sharp increase in spousal abuse, from 1,009 cases in 1998, to 2,433 last year.

The number of elderly abuse cases rose from 143 between October 1999 and February last year, to 239 cases between March last year and March this year.



14 children die in home violence