Hong Kong ignoring 1.5 million marginalised women and funding for women’s rights, campaigners say
Campaigners say the ongoing fight for women’s rights is being held back by a lack of funding, as money goes to pro-establishment groups
Women’s rights campaigners from across Asia have gathered in Hong Kong to discuss the lack of funding for their projects, which they claim are being ignored in favour of organisation that represent pro-establishment groups.
Representatives from international women’s association Prospera and global women’s fund Mama Cash met with Hong Kong women’s rights charity HER Fund this week to discuss how they can raise the profile of women’s issues in Asia.
Casey Kwok Ka-chai, communications officer for HER Fund, said there were about 1.5 million “hidden women” in Hong Kong who were marginalised because of their gender, including 330,000 foreign domestic workers, members of the LGBT community and the estimated 700,000 women who work as full-time carers for family members.
“After the umbrella movement, it is clear that we care about the democratic movement in Hong Kong, but I really believe feminism perfects a democracy,” she said.
She said corporates were also more likely to donate to service based NGOs than women’s groups because the results would generate better publicity for them, and avoid conflict with their often conservative stakeholders.