According to the study, survivors of sexual violence in the city wait on average about four years and two months before seeking help. Photo: Edmond SoSexual violence survivors in Hong Kong are waiting about four years and two months on average before seeking help, a study by an NGO has found. The proportion of victims who are willing to report their cases to police has also fallen over the past 15 years.
The study drew its data from the 1,984 sexual violence cases handled by RainLily between 2019 and 2023, as well as comparison with cases dating back to 2009.
The NGO, which published the report on Tuesday, said the number of cases it handled had increased over a 15-year period. It also noted a sharp rise in sexual violence cases over the past decade that did not involve physical contact.
Acts in the latter category included revenge porn and non-consensual public disclosure of intimate images, alongside verbal abuse and other forms of sexual violence that did not involve direct physical touch.
“Sexual violence remains serious, and has shown new trends and changes. RainLily urges society to provide resources and measures to support survivors of sexual violence,” NGO executive director Doris Chong Tsz-wai said.
The group’s report also showed victims of sexual violence on average reported their cases 1,536.8 days after the attacks took place.
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A further breakdown of all cases found nearly 20 per cent of victims only sought help from the NGO more than five years after being sexually assaulted.
According to the study, only 41.4 per cent of those attacked between 2019 and 2023 had filed a police report.
The figure for those sexually assaulted between 2014 and 2018 stood at 44.1 per cent, while only 56.8 per cent of incidents that occurred from 2009 to 2013 were reported to police.
The data meant only 807 victims had filed police reports, with 36.7 per cent of them having their cases terminated after an investigation or due to the force refusing to proceed with their reports.
Among those 296 victims, 45.6 per cent had their cases closed due to insufficient evidence, and another 35.5 per cent withdrew their cases.
“Because of the issue of delayed reporting, then maybe they feel less comfortable reporting their case to police, as they feel that there may be insufficient evidence to help them to obtain legal justice,” said Albert Yau Chi-hang, senior research officer with the group. “That could explain the drop in the reporting rate.”
Incidents involving penetrative sexual assault made up the largest proportion of cases reported to the NGO, accounting for 44.7 per cent, or 873, of the tally.
The data showed that 23 per cent of the cases, or 448, handled by RainLily in the past five years focused on sexual violence that did not involve physical contact.
The figure also represented a 227 per cent increase from the 137 cases handled from 2014 to 2018. There were only 33 cases handled between 2009 and 2013.
The organisation expanded the category to include cases involving image-based sexual violence in 2019, receiving 304 reports since then and the end of last year.
“In image-based sexual violence cases, 45 per cent of perpetrators were the victim’s intimate partner,” Yau said. “This also indirectly affects the surge in sexual violence cases among intimate partners.”
The NGO said the overwhelming majority, or 96.6 per cent, of perpetrators in all the cases it had studied were men.
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It added that 18 per cent of the cases were perpetrated by victims’ current or former intimate partners, while another 17.9 per cent involved friends or peers and a further 17.8 per cent involved work acquaintances.
“A noteworthy trend is that sexual violence happening over online or instant messaging platforms have also taken up 10 per cent of the cases, alongside the [11 per cent] of sexual violence committed by friends that victims had met online,” Yau said. “These reflect online-related sexual violence issues.”
Meanwhile, Chong suggested the city reform its laws to expand their coverage of violent non-consensual sexual acts, in addition to setting up one-stop crisis centres at public hospitals that could provide medical, legal and counselling support for victims.
The group’s executive director also said authorities should include a clear legal definition of consent when it came to sexual activity.
She suggested the government take reference from Australia’s laws, which laid out a non-exhaustive list of circumstances in where people should not be considered to be consenting to a sexual activity, such as being unconscious.
Authorities should revise the legal definition of rape to include other forms of penetrative sexual assault, such as the use of objects as tools, Chong added.
Barrister Michelle Wong Lap-yan, who has experience in handling sexual offence cases, told the South China Morning Post that delays in reporting attacks risked affecting the credibility of victims’ accounts and the likelihood of their perpetuators’ convictions.