https://www.scmp.com/rss/502840/feed Dr Clifton R. Emery is an associate professor of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong. He is also the academic consultant for Help for Children (HFC) Asia. His research and practice embrace populations made vulnerable by domestic violence, child maltreatment, human trafficking, and refugee status. Recent research examines relationships between totalitarian-style control and violence. He also does some North Korean human rights work. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com She lives in fear for herself and her young charges. The vulnerable children she cares for, in fact the entire household, are under the control of a terrifying man. She uses the threat of reporting to try to deter the father from more serious violence against his children but fears for her own safety. She agonises about whether to leave, but who will protect her charges then? Without a doubt, many domestic helpers in Hong Kong face such a crisis. The Law Reform Commission has proposed the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3149514/child-abuse-why-punishing-bystanders-severely-could-backfire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3149514/child-abuse-why-punishing-bystanders-severely-could-backfire?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:30:25 +0000 Dickens compared the government of pre-revolution France to a rustic person who “raised the Devil with infinite pains, and was so terrified at the sight of him that he … immediately fled”. Now, as then, I fear the government of Hong Kong is reciting the Lord’s Prayer backwards with a completely unwarranted assumption that it is creating order rather than chaos. Concretely, the government has failed to realise that police action like rounding up and arresting high-profile political opponents and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3084226/when-both-sides-political-spectrum-are-equally-guilty-tolerating?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3084226/when-both-sides-political-spectrum-are-equally-guilty-tolerating?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2020 03:00:08 +0000 The protesters poured out of the front gate of the university. As soon as they entered the street they were descended upon by riot police in full gear surrounding them on three sides. The students engaged the riot police with sticks, and the police shot choking amounts of tear gas and used their shields and batons to beat the protesters. It was 1994 in Seoul, and I was watching the tail end of the South Korean democracy movement engage what was formerly an instrument of the dictatorship. Much of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038233/protesters-and-police-are-descending-totalitarianism-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038233/protesters-and-police-are-descending-totalitarianism-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2019 01:00:13 +0000