by Sarah Karacs
South China Morning Post - Hong Kong feedToday, 04:22
Doris Chong Tsz-wai points to a pine cone that has been painted in rainbow colours. A rape survivor she counselled at RainLily, the city's only rape crisis centre, found it in a park and painted it.
By beautifying an item others might find useless, the survivor was able to process some of the self-esteem issues with which she found herself saddled after her ex-boyfriend raped her.
"The woman felt something bad in her heart and when she went to court, she felt a lot of shame," said Chong, a senior RainLily counsellor.
Despite RainLily's lobbying, the survivor was not granted protection and had to face her perpetrator in court. Reliving the trauma put her in an emotional state so delicate she nearly collapsed after the hearing.
"She found it very difficult telling a room full of strangers what happened," Chong said.
One in seven Hong Kong women experience sexual violence in their lifetime, and the resources to help them deal with the aftermath are limited.
RainLily is the only service in the city providing much of the crucial support for victims of such attacks. It is a beneficiary this year of Operation Santa Claus, the annual fundraising drive organised jointly by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.
The centre operates a rape crisis hotline, arranges the necessary physical health checks and counselling sessions for victims and shepherds them through the complex legal process involved in taking their assailants to court.
"We want to empower women and encourage them to report the crimes," said Linda Wong Sau-yung, executive director of the Association Concerning Sexual Violence against Women, which runs RainLily.
She said rape often went unreported in Hong Kong owing to feelings of shame on the part of victims who worry about how family, friends and colleagues might react if they found out. "It's not easy for women to speak out because they fear being blamed," Wong said.
The association set up RainLily in 2000, naming it after a flower that blossoms after rain. It says this symbolises victims who hold a positive attitude towards life after enduring some of its most traumatic experiences.
RainLily welcomes women from all backgrounds, be they white-collar professionals, blue-collar workers experiencing sexual harassment on the job or domestic helpers from overseas who have a limited local support network.
"One of our clients was a Filipino lady who came to us when she realised she was pregnant after being raped by her boss," Chong said, describing how the woman's employer had sacked her and refused to acknowledge the child was his.
"She could not have an abortion because of her religion, but she didn't know how to support the child."
With the help of RainLily's legal advisers, the woman was able to force the perpetrator to accept the child as his and he agreed to pay child support.
"Sexual violence is an issue of power difference," said Wong, who is lobbying the government to update sexual violence laws she says are 50 years behind many in the West.
"We're not just mediating, we're trying to balance that position," she said.
HOW YOU CAN GIVE
Donate online by credit card at osc.scmp.com/donate
Donate at an ATM or any branch of HSBC (account number 502-676299-001 for SCMP Charities Ltd - Operation Santa Claus)
You can donate with a cheque payable to "SCMP Charities Ltd - Operation Santa Claus" and mail it to: Operation Santa Claus, Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, New Territories.
Donations of HK$100 or more are tax-deductible. If you would like a tax receipt, please send the completed donation form and original bank receipt to the address above.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642414/rainlily-rape-crisis-centre-offers-victims-safety-support -- gReader
