My Take | Long Hair’s win a significant step against discrimination
- Activist Leung Kwok-hung’s six-year legal fight against the haircut rule for male prisoners is a victory for the principle of equal treatment that benefits us all
Veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung has won many human rights cases over the years. But this one will be particularly sweet, given the strong attachment he has to his trademark shoulder-length hair.
The disqualified democrat lawmaker’s victory in the Court of Final Appeal was the culmination of a six-year legal battle. He had temporarily become “short hair” when jailed in 2014 for criminal damage and disorderly behaviour at a public forum. His hair was cut in accordance with prison rules.
The basis of the court’s ruling was simple. The haircut rule applies to male prisoners but not female ones. It subjects the men to less favourable treatment than the women by denying them less choice. This is unlawful discrimination.
Officials had, in a lower court, argued that the rule was necessary to guard against security risks, such as prisoners hiding razor blades in their hair. But the top court said the government had failed to explain why male and female prisoners should be treated differently.
The Commissioner of Correctional Services later switched to an argument that the rule was needed to uphold prison discipline by ensuring uniformity among inmates. This was done with reference to “conventional standards of appearance for men and women in our society”. In other words, men generally have short hair while women are more likely to have long hair. It is therefore not discriminatory, it was argued, to cut the hair of only male prisoners.