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Title	The status of women and girls in Hong Kong 2006 / commissioned and funded by The Women's Foundation and The Fund for Women in Asia, Inc. ; editors, Alicia M. Kershaw and Deborah DeGolyer ; project manager, Alicia M. Kershaw ; contributors, Patricia Chiu ... [et al.] ; designers, Shanti Christensen & Mew Ling Lee.
Imprint	Hong Kong : The Women's Foundation, c2006.

LOCATION	CALL #	STATUS
General Collection	HQ 1781 .S72 2006	ONE-MONTH LOAN

	Acknowledgements		xii
	Foreword		xiv
	Introduction to the Report		1
	Executive Summary		5
Ch.I	Perceptions and Self-Perceptions of Women and Girls
		Overview	19
		The status of the research	19
		The status of perceptions and self-perceptions of women and girls in Hong Kong	20
		Organisational and societal levels of perception and self-perception	20
		Gender role stereotypes in education	20
		Gender role stereotypes in the media	20
		Public attitudes toward women's participation in politics	21
		Individual perception and self-perception	21
		Stereotyping among students	21
		Stereotyping among other groups	22
		Lack of recognition that inequality is a societal problem	22
		Internalised self-perception	23
		Religious institutions	23
		Women in sports	24
		Gender differences in sports	24
		Response to historical tradition	24
		Pornography	25
		Implications	25
Ch.II	Resources and Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women and Girls
		Overview	26
		The status of the research	27
		The status of resources for women and girls	27
		International commitments	27
		Institutions with a woman-oriented mission	28
		Equal Opportunities Commission: organisation and mission	28
		Work of the EOC	28
		The Women's Commission: organisation and mission	28
		Work of the WoC	29
		Independent critiques of the EOC and WoC	29
		Women's advocacy organisations	30
		Women's cooperatives	30
		Peer counselling services	30
		Gender mainstreaming in the NGO sector	30
		Religious organisations	31
		Philanthropic organisations	31
		Barriers to funding for women and girls	31
		Human resources policies	32
		Resources for working family caregivers	32
		Anti-discrimination policies and resources	32
		Social security and economic empowerment: resources on social welfare	32
		Education: resources on continuing education and IT literacy	33
		The need and demand for continuing education	33
		Barriers to continuing education	33
		Information technology literacy	34
		Legal and civil matters: resources on crime and criminal justice	34
		Legislation	34
		Legal assistance	35
		Reproductive and family planning resources: resources on marriage and family	35
		Resources for girls	35
		Social support networks of youth	35
		Resources for public education	36
		Effectiveness of the WoC	36
		Implications	36
Ch.III	Women in Power and Decision Making
		Overview	37
		The status of the research	38
		The status of women in power and decision making in Hong Kong	38
		International commitments	38
		Civic and political participation	39
		Elections and voting: Legislative and District Councils	39
		Elections and voting: rural elections	40
		The civil service and political office	40
		The judiciary	40
		Advisory and statutory bodies	40
		Organised labour union participation	40
		The women's movement: current profile	41
		Professionals	41
		Women in higher education	42
		Women doctors	42
		Women lawyers	42
		The corporate world	43
		Women managers	43
		Women entrepreneurs	44
		Leadership studies	44
		Women in sports	45
		Women as coaches	45
		Women as athletes	45
		Religion	46
		Female Christian clergy in Hong Kong	46
		Role of clergywomen in pressing for equality	46
		Female Buddhists in Hong Kong	46
		Philanthropy	47
		Implications	47
Ch.IV	Basic Statistics
		Overview	48
		The status of the research	48
		Basic statistics concerning women and girls	49
		Population structure of women and men	49
		Population structure by age distribution	49
		Live births	50
		Life expectancy	50
		Mortality rates	50
		Infant mortality	50
		Non-infant mortality	50
		Place of birth and duration of residence in Hong Kong	51
		Ethnicity	51
		Languages spoken	51
		Living arrangements and household characteristics	51
		Relationship between economic activity status and household characteristics	52
		Relationship between monthly income and household characteristics	52
		Members of households having paid work	52
		Household heads	52
		Geographical characteristics	52
		Internal migration	52
		Implications	53
Ch.V	Immigrants and Migrant Labour Section I: Immigrants
		Overview	54
		The status of the research	55
		The status of immigrant women and girls	55
		Basic statistics	55
		Very new arrivals	56
		Employment	56
		Employment levels	56
		Perceived barriers to job seeking	57
		Discerned barriers to job seeking	58
		Adjustment difficulties	58
		Adapting to new life in Hong Kong	58
		Mental health	58
		Identification with Hong Kong	59
		Adjustment of young female new-arrivals	59
		Self-esteem and stigma	59
		Welfare	60
		Family	60
		Family functioning	60
		Marital relationships	61
		Family planning	61
		Parenting	61
		Programmes to assist new-arrival women	61
		Self-help groups	61
		Social support	62
		Implications	62
Ch.V	Immigrants and Migrant Labour Section II: Migrant Labour
		Overview	63
		The status of the research	64
		The status of migrant worker women in Hong Kong	64
		Basic statistics and legal environment	64
		Working conditions	65
		Wage differentials	65
		Contract violations	65
		Working relations	65
		Violence against domestic workers	66
		Impact on the employing household	66
		Health	66
		Religion	67
		Migrant domestic worker identity	67
		Discourse analysis	67
		Activism	68
		Implications	69
Ch.VI	Marriage and Fam		ily
		Overview	70
		The status of the research	70
		The status of marriage and the family in Hong Kong	71
		Basic statistics	71
		Marriage and birth rates	71
		Divorce and remarriage rates	71
		Cross border workers	72
		Women who never marry or delay marriage	72
		Women who never marry	72
		Age at marriage	72
		Reasons for and the impact of divorce	73
		Overall marital happiness	73
		Reasons for divorce	73
		Youth attitudes	73
		Extra-marital affairs	73
		Impact of divorce	74
		Women living with cross-border families	74
		Definitions and statistics	74
		Cross-border polygyny	74
		Impact on women	75
		Women as decision makers in the family	75
		Women who are single parents	76
		Definitions and basic statistics	76
		Profile of single mothers	76
		Stigmatisation of single parents	76
		Implications	77
Ch.VII	Girls and Youth
		Overview	79
		The status of the research	80
		The status of girls and youth in Hong Kong	80
		Education and academic performance	80
		Youth and social problems	81
		Drug abuse	81
		Factors contributing to drug use	81
		Alcohol abuse	81
		Other youth and social problems	82
		Gambling and speculative behaviours	82
		Debt	82
		Youth offenders	82
		Teen pregnancy	82
		Healthy living	83
		Psychosocial well-being of girls and youth	83
		Depressive symptoms and school misbehaviour	83
		Suicide	84
		Body dissatisfaction and eating disorders	84
		Seeking help	84
		Websites and behaviour on the Internet	84
		Volunteering	84
		Privacy	85
		Free time and parental control of free time	85
		Implications	86
Ch.VIII	Senior Women and Women in Mid-Life
		Overview	87
		The status of the research	87
		The status of senior women and women in mid-life in Hong Kong	88
		The aging female population	88
		Health and psychosocial health	88
		Elderly suicide	88
		Suicide, indigence and old age	89
		Family responsibility for the elderly	89
		Elder abuse	90
		Poverty and the elderly	90
		Gendered characteristics of the elderly	90
		Women in mid-life	90
		Implications	91
Ch.IX	Sexuality
		Overview	92
		The status of the research	92
		The status of sexuality of women and girls in Hong Kong	93
		Attitudes toward sexual activity	93
		Gender differences in attitudes	93
		Views on intimacy	93
		Dating experience	94
		Sexual behaviour	94
		Sexual activity excluding intercourse	94
		Pre-marital sex	94
		Forced sexual intercourse	95
		Sexual knowledge	95
		Sexual knowledge among youth	95
		Sex education	95
		Psychosocial effects of early sexual activity	96
		Feminist studies	96
		Implications	97
Ch.X	Minorities and Special Groups
		Overview	98
		Ethnic minorities	98
		Women with disabilities	98
		Sexual minorities	98
		Sex workers	98
		The status of the research	99
		The status of minority women in Hong Kong	99
		Demographic characteristics	100
		Population	100
		Marital status	100
		Duration of stay	100
		Education	100
		Labour force participation	100
		Studies of ethnic minority women	101
		Female expatriates and expatriate wives	101
		Women with disabilities: basic statistics	102
		Gender and disability	102
		Women with mental disabilities	103
		Women with disabilities in daily life	103
		Sexual minorities	104
		Surveys of public attitudes and discrimination	105
		Public attitudes	105
		Discrimination	122
		Bisexuals	105
		Sex workers	106
		Working conditions	106
		Sex workers	107
		Health and social services issues	107
		Implications	108
		Female ethnic minorities	108
		Females with disabilities	108
		Female sexual minorities	109
		Sex workers	109
Ch.XI	Education
		Overview	110
		The status of the research	111
		The status of education of women and girls	111
		Basic statistics	111
		Increased educational opportunities for girls	111
		Gender segregation in fields of study	112
		Gender patterns in public examinations	112
		Gender segregation in tertiary education	113
		Gender segregation in vocational training	113
		Factors contributing to gender segregation in fields of study	113
		Perceived gender differences in traits and skills (IT)	114
		Transmitting, reinforcing and reinterpreting gender role stereotyping at schools	114
		Textbooks and teaching materials	114
		Teachers' attitudes toward students	114
		Renegotiating gender role identities at school	115
		School-related activities	115
		Participation in extra-curricular activities	115
		Attitudes of students toward physical education	115
		Gender equality education	116
		Understanding of ��gender equality' among educators	116
		Gender sensitivity in tertiary education	116
		Implications	117
Ch.XII	Health
		Overview	118
		The status of the research	119
		The health of women and girls in Hong Kong	120
		The general state of women's health	120
		Psychosocial health	120
		Anxiety and depression and women's gender roles	120
		Suicide	121
		Postnatal depression	122
		Other threats to mental health	122
		Reproductive and sexual health	123
		Maternal health	123
		Quality of care	123
		Family planning and contraception	124
		Abortion	124
		Sex selection	125
		Breastfeeding	125
		Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)	126
		HIV/AIDS	126
		Knowledge of HIV/AIDS	126
		Condom use: knowledge, attitudes and practices	126
		Negotiation with partners over condom use	127
		Perceived risk of contracting HIV or other STDs	127
		Other safer sex studies	127
		HIV/AIDS and pregnancy	127
		Cancer	128
		Breast cancer	128
		Lung cancer	128
		Cervical cancer screening	128
		Breast cancer screening	130
		Psychosocial aspects of cancer	130
		Health concerns of older women	131
		Cardiovascular disease	131
		Chronic illness	131
		Menopause	131
		Osteoporosis	131
		Lifestyle	132
		Smoking	132
		Alcohol use and substance abuse	132
		Exercise	133
		Weight management	133
		Women and health care	133
		Women as health care consumers	133
		Some statistics on women as health care consumers	133
		The Harvard Reportt	134
		Women as caregivers	134
		Implications	135
		Specific recommendations	135
		Health and socioeconomic status	135
		Women's perceived poor health	135
		Women's sexual health	135
		Women and healthcare delivery	135
Ch.XIII	Social Welfare and Poverty
		Overview	137
		The status of the research	138
		The status of impoverished women and girls in Hong Kong	138
		The social welfare system in Hong Kong	138
		Basic statistics	139
		CSSA as the primary social security	139
		Efficacy of CSSA	139
		Gender aspects of CSSA	140
		Special groups of concern: single mothers	140
		The needs of single parents	140
		Obstacles to ending reliance on CSSA	141
		Officials' attitudes toward single mothers on CSSA	141
		Barriers to receiving maintenance (alimony)	141
		Social services for single parents	142
		Housing needs	142
		Employment retraining vs caregiving	142
		Groups of special concern: elderly women	143
		Perceptions and self-perceptions of the poor	143
		Implications	143
Ch.XIV	Violence and Domestic Violence
		Overview	145
		The status of the research	146
		Types of violence	146
		The status of violence and domestic violence in Hong Kong	147
		Sexual violence against women	147
		Profiles of victims and abusers	147
		Low report rate	148
		Responses to sexual violence	148
		Perceptions and misperceptions of sexual violence	149
		Myths of sexual violence	149
		The social construction of sexual violence	150
		Abuse of children and adolescents	150
		Sexual abuse	150
		Responses to child sexual abuse	150
		Current statistics on other types of abuse	150
		Profiles of victims and abusers of children and adolescents	151
		Perceptions and misperceptions about abuse of children and adolescents	151
		Effects of the abuse of children and adolescents	151
		Causes of abuse	151
		School violence	151
		Wife abuse	152
		Current statistics and trends	152
		Profiles of abused wives	152
		Victims' responses - choosing to stay or leave	153
		Causes of domestic violence	153
		The batterers' perspectives of abuse	154
		Effects of domestic violence	154
		Children who witness family violence	154
		Elder abuse	155
		Females as perpetrators of violence	155
		Current statistics	155
		Lesbian battering	155
		Preventive and protective resources	155
		Community education and prevention	155
		Professionals	156
		Resources	165
		Implications	157
Ch.XV	Crime and Criminal Justice
		Overview	158
		The status of the research	158
		The status of crime and criminal justice with regard to women and girls in Hong Kong	159
		General crime data	159
		Victims of crime in Hong Kong	159
		Gender aspects of victims	159
		Domestic violence	159
		Female offenders	160
		Official data	160
		Violent crime	160
		Less violent crime (burglary and theft)	160
		Sexual offences	160
		Other offences	161
		Youth offenders	161
		Female prisoners from mainland China	161
		Recidivism	162
		Under-reporting	162
		Causes of crime	162
		Protective and preventive resources	162
		The criminal justice system	163
		Implications	163
Ch.XVI	Work, Incomes and Unpaid Work
		Overview	164
		Women's employment	164
		Unemployment and under-employment	164
		Incomes	165
		The status of the research	165
		The status of working women and girls in Hong Kong	166
		Gender, family and work	166
		Household work	166
		Economic consequences of household work	166
		Occupational segregation and the wage gap	166
		Discrimination	167
		Gendered occupations: case studies	167
		Family and work conflicts and family-friendly policies in the workplace	168
		Subjective issues	169
		Women workers and the global economy	169
		Historical background	169
		Basic statistics	170
		Unemployment and employment	170
		Vulnerable occupations	170
		Public housing estate cleaners	170
		Dishwashers	171
		Domestic workers and shop assistants	171
		Self-help	171
		Implications	172
	Conclusion		173
	Bibliographies		174
	Ch.I	Perceptions and Self-Perceptions of Women and Girls	174
	Ch.II	Resources and Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women and Girls	176
	Ch.III	Women in Power and Decision Making	178
	Ch.IV	Basic Statistics	181
	Ch.V	Immigrants and Migrant Labour	181
	Ch.VI	Marriage and Family	185
	Ch.VII	Girls and Youth	189
	Ch.VIII	Senior Women and Women in Mid-Life	192
	Ch.IX	Sexuality	194
	Ch.X	Minorities and Special Groups	195
	Ch.XI	Education	198
	Ch.XII	Health	199
	Ch.XIII	Social Welfare and Poverty	205
	Ch.XIV	Violence and Domestic Violence	206
	Ch.XV	Crime and Criminal Justice	213
	Ch.XVI	Work, Incomes and Unpaid Work	214
	Appendices
	I	Research Team	218
	II	Research Checklists	219
	III	International Resources	222