A voluntary organisation that provides refuge for victims of domestic violence is turning away nearly six times as many applicants as it did six years ago amid a rise in the number of cases and a lack of shelter space.
Harmony House was forced to reject 678 applications for its shelter for domestic violence victims in 2006-07, compared with 127 rejections in 2001-02, due to limited capacity.
The number of shelter places had remained at 40 a day over the past few years, said Margaret Wong Fung-yee, executive director of the Jockey Club Harmony Link Domestic Violence Prevention Centre, as the shelter is known.
'The demand for our service is so strong that our shelter is often fully occupied,' she said.
In his budget in February, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah proposed an extra HK$40 million a year to strengthen support for victims of domestic violence and families in need.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung told a special meeting of the Legislative Council Finance Committee yesterday that the government planned to soon increase daily shelter places in the city by 65, to 260.