Protection against discrimination for Hong Kong nursing mothers, friends and relatives of ethnic minority individuals covered in new law changes
- Government on Friday gazettes long-overdue enhancements to legislation to extend protection against various types of harassment
- The law covering nursing mothers will come into force next year, while various other amendments take effect from Friday
Nursing mothers and anyone related to members of ethnic minority groups will be the latest to receive protection under Hong Kong’s anti-discrimination laws, as the government on Friday gazetted some long-overdue enhancements to the legislations.
People volunteering or interning at a workplace will also come under the purview of the laws if they faced sexual, racial or disability-related harassment. Earlier, they were not entitled to file a complaint in the absence of an employment contract.
“It is an important milestone in the history of Hong Kong’s anti-discrimination legislation,” chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Ricky Chu Man-kin said.
The commission put forward 73 recommendations in 2014 to improve the city’s four existing anti-discrimination laws, which cover harassment due to sex, disability, family status and race.
The Legislative Council passed eight recommendations last week. All but the provision protecting women who breastfeed came into force on Friday when they were gazetted by the government. The one covering nursing mothers will come into force on the same day next year.
After the amendments, more people will be able to lodge a complaint over harassment to the EOC and file a court case to claim damages.
In the sex discrimination ordinance, an express clause was added particularly to ensure there is no discrimination “on the ground that a woman is breastfeeding”.
Figures available from the Department of Health in 2018 showed 87.5 per cent of mothers started breastfeeding their newborns at hospital. But the rate dropped to 26.1 per cent a month after they were discharged.
Jacy Chan Mei-ling, the chairwoman of Hong Kong Breastfeeding Mothers’ Association, welcomed the decision, saying that it would give nursing mothers a clear idea about their rights.
Before the amendments, she said, nursing mothers could still file a complaint under the sex or family status discrimination ordinances. But it was harder to argue a case based on those ordinances.
“This time, it is clear that discrimination against a nursing mother is not permissible,” she said.
EOC senior legal counsel Peter Reading said that with the new law, shopping centres would also need to consider whether to provide nursing rooms. Employers might want to make adjustments to their working conditions, such as allowing nursing mothers to work part time or to take breaks for expressing milk.
“These amendments will provide crucial protection against discrimination and harassment in many aspects of public life,” he said, adding that interns and volunteers at workplaces would also benefit.
With the new amendments, people undergoing internship and pupillage, as well as volunteers will be able to file racial, sexual and disability-related discrimination complaints so long as they shared the same workplace with the discriminator.
Associates of someone facing direct racial discrimination and harassment will also be able to file a complaint when they are discriminated against for being the spouse, relative, friend or carer of an ethnic minority individual under new amendments to the racial discrimination law.
From Friday onwards, the new version of the racial discrimination law will also allow someone to lodge a complaint based on racial slurs or labelling even if they do not belong to the race in question.
Other new changes cover service providers, such as flight attendants, who can now hold customers accountable for racial and disability-related discrimination if the incidents take place on aircraft or ships registered in Hong Kong.
A wide range of clubs would also be required to provide protection to their members from sexual and disability-related harassment.
Human rights lawyer Michael Vidler called the amendments an “important improvement”.
“Particularly important are the protection from discrimination for nursing mothers and enhanced provisions relating to sexual harassment, which are long overdue,” he said.
