More than one in five women living in Hong Kong’s subdivided flats claim to have been sexually harassed, study shows
Calls to tighten city’s sex discrimination laws after non-profit group says many women have become victims of harassment at home
More than one in five women living in Hong Kong’s rundown subdivided flats that cluster in the city’s aged and poor districts say they have been sexually harassed, according to a concern group study.
The most common forms of harassment were crude sexual jokes, indecent exposure and displays of dirty pictures, the non-profit Concerning Grassroots’ Housing Rights Alliance, which interviewed 105 women living in subdivided flats between June and July, found.
Twenty-two of the women interviewed said they had been sexually harassed by neighbours at home.
In one case, a lodger, who preferred to be known as Vivian, in her 30s, said her neighbour was fond of wearing only his underpants in his room while leaving the door open. “He also liked to stare at me when I walked past his room,” she said.
The group urged that Hong Kong’s sex discrimination law be tightened to protect female lodgers.