RainLily rape crisis centre offers victims safety, support

Doris Chong Tsz-wai points to a pine cone that has been painted in rainbow colours. A rape survivor she counselled at RainLily, the city's only rape crisis centre, found it in a park and painted it.

By beautifying an item others might find useless, the survivor was able to process some of the self-esteem issues with which she found herself saddled after her ex-boyfriend raped her.

"The woman felt something bad in her heart and when she went to court, she felt a lot of shame," said Chong, a senior RainLily counsellor.

Despite RainLily's lobbying, the survivor was not granted protection and had to face her perpetrator in court. Reliving the trauma put her in an emotional state so delicate she nearly collapsed after the hearing.

"She found it very difficult telling a room full of strangers what happened," Chong said.

One in seven Hong Kong women experience sexual violence in their lifetime, and the resources to help them deal with the aftermath are limited.