How a legal loophole is failing Hong Kong survivors of long-term sexual abuse
Victim recalls years of unprosecutable abuse as advocates urge closure of loophole tying prosecutors’ hands and law review to prove patterns over specifics
It took Eva Chan* more than a decade to find the courage to walk into a police station and report the sexual abuse she had endured for about six years at the hands of a family member she had lived with as a teenager.
Reporting the abuse when she was 16 was unimaginable. At the time, her mother had discovered what had been happening and had driven the perpetrator out of their home.
“There’s no professional support, as school social workers might not handle these cases often and might not know much about the process. [Reporting to the police] was like sending me to the slaughter,” she said.
When Chan finally filed her report recently, she struggled to recall the exact dates and times of each assault. Yet such details are essential for prosecution, as each offence must be treated as a separate incident under the law.
She said she felt as though she was being asked to distinguish between a series of nearly identical incidents rather than describe the repeated nature of the abuse she suffered.
Advocates told the Post it was time to close the legal loophole – an issue not addressed in the more than 70 recommendations from the Law Reform Commission that the government will consider when reviewing sexual offence laws this year.