More language support urged for Hong Kong’s ethnic minority women who struggle with English or Chinese
Barrier especially daunting for those who look after household and need to communicate with hospitals and schools
Every month, a workers’ welfare group receives five to six requests for help with translation services at Hong Kong’s public hospitals, mostly from ethnic minority women.
“The [booking] system is in English and Chinese only,” explained Shoaib Hussain, assistant programme officer at the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Workers. “It’s very difficult for ethnic minorities, especially women, to book if they don’t understand English or Chinese.”
The language barrier – an issue for many among the city’s 264,000 ethnic minority residents – is especially daunting for women, who make up about half the group.
Non-profit organisation Translate for Her provides interpretation services for these women. It said they often took on some of their household’s most important responsibilities, such as health care and children’s education, but struggled to communicate with others and access information.
“They are mostly housewives. They stay at home,” said Sajila Khan, a programme worker for the NGO. “Their husbands go out to work with local Chinese people. They can learn. But women, if they need to stay at home and take care of the kids, they are the most affected by the language problem.”