Support groups say women are not reporting abuse because it is too hard to prove allegations
The number of Hong Kong women willing to report sexual harassment is dropping, new figures show, a decline that support organisations say reflects the difficulty in substantiating the cases and a continuing fear among women to report such abuses.
The figures come a week after a radio show caused a public outcry by polling its listeners on which female star they would like to indecently assault, forcing the hosts to later issue an apology.
The Equal Opportunities Commission reported that it received 60 complaints of sexual harassment last year, compared with 135 cases in 2003 and 79 in 2004.
Commission spokeswoman Mariana Law Po-chu said the commission received a total of 718 complaints between September 1996 and this April.
'[Sexual harassment] accounts for 40 per cent of the complaints received by the EOC,' Ms Law said.
