Policing domestic violence : Women’s experiences of violence and protection in Hong Kong

In 2004, a tragedy happened in Tin Shui Wai[i] had attracted many criticism on the police attitudes towards abused women and procedures in handling domestic violence cases. In the family tragedy, a new immigrant woman Kam Shuk-ying and her two daughters were killed by her husband. It was suggested that women being silence has accelerate men’s violence towards women. However, the most striking story about Ms. Kam is that she had sought help from the police prior to the tragedy. On the day Ms. Kam was killed, she had reported to the police that she was in danger, however, the duty officer in the police station just turned her away without taking any action to protect her. Even worse, no record was found in police file. Why the police did not treat the case seriously to take further actions such as sending the woman to a refuge centre for her safety, give warning or even arresting the perpetrator? Was it because the police had doubt on the victim’s credibility? Or was it because the belief of deserving or undeserving victims that the police uphold in handling the case? What is a ‘truth’ and what is a ‘lie’? Who is trustworthy and whose words are more convincing? These are the issues of belief and credibility. Credibility is socially constructed and is historically and culturally specific. This paper is based on the findings of a research study conducted between 2006 and 2008, aims to develop a dynamic understanding of women’s experiences in reporting to the police, particularly on being abused by their husbands or partners, from survivors’ perspectives. The study involved the interviewing of 20 women who were abused by their husband or partner, of those 14 of them had the experiences of reporting abuse to the police. In order to obtain a comprehensive view on the issue, in-depth interviews have been conducted for two polices, one male and one female, to explore why police express doubt on women who make abuse complaints. This paper also aims to discuss how to improve policing for women in the future. [i] Tin Shui Wan is a newly developed community located in the north western part of Hong Kong. This area is one of the poorest districts with the highest number of domestic violence cases in Hong Kong.