In October 2017, hurdler Vera LUI sent shock waves through Hong Kong with her #MeToo story on Facebook. It was a wake-up call for the sports sector, and later many others, to combat sexual harassment with willpower and commitment. An increasing number of organisations have since implemented preventive measures, such as having a written policy in place, developing a complaint-handling procedure, and providing staff with training and refresher sessions.

However, much more awareness-raising needs to take place. As evidenced by the polarised response among netizens to an ice cream ad published by a furniture retailer on Facebook just a few months back, those who mocked #MeToo as a witch hunt and PR stunt two years ago continue to trivialise sexual harassment and brand feminists as “libtards” to this day.

Asking “What’s Next After #MeToo?”, the latest issue of the EOC’s journal Equality Perspectives was published on 15 August 2019 through Hong Kong Economic Times. In the cover story, we sat down with Prof Susanne CHOI, Convenor of the EOC’s Policy, Research and Training Committee and the Working Group on Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaign, as well as Mr CHONG Yiu-kwong, Deputy Convenor of the Working Group to discuss some of the common criticisms against #MeToo, why they were misguided, and how we could leverage #MeToo to step up our fight against sexual harassment. We also talked to Dr Ferrick CHU, acting Chief Operations Officer of the EOC, about the Commission’s recent accomplishments and future plans in this regard.

Conversations about bodily autonomy and gender stereotypes must begin at an early age. This issue therefore features two additional articles about nurturing values of respect and equality among the younger generation: one on sexuality education reform in Hong Kong, and another about EOC-commissioned drama performances at schools.

An e-book version of the journal is available on the EOC website. Click the link below to download it now!

• Read the journal
• Prevent sexual harassment with EOC’s resources