A group has complained that the government is ignoring the needs of abused husbands. The Family Relationship Development Network says it is trying to establish asylums for abused husbands in places like chicken farms but is struggling to do so because the Social Welfare Department will not provide funds - something it generally does for abused women.
'We have no funding and cannot provide a place for male victims - all asylums are only for women. We can only refer them to the department, which places them in hostels where there are vagrants or drug addicts who often steal their personal belongings and abuse them,' said Yu Chi-sing, the group's chairman.
Mr Yu urged the government to provide more resources for battered husbands. 'Over 65 per cent of cases we have handled involve men who are aged over 40. They are unemployed and their wives scold them and insult them every day for being sexually and financially incompetent,' he said.
According to the Social Welfare Department, the number of men who suffered from psychological abuse increased from four in 2002 to 61 in 2003, and about 68 cases were reported last year. But the network handled more than 500 cases of this kind in February alone.
Mr Yu said most victims preferred seeking help from the network because it specialised in providing services to abused men.
'Many older males have married young mainland women and these men have lost their jobs after 1997,' he said. 'They find it hard to get jobs, as they are poorly educated.'
