The EOC started serving the Hong Kong community in May 1996. To celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, the Commission will be rolling out a series of activities – beginning with a colouring and drawing competition for children in Hong Kong.
Participants in the Pre-school and Lower Primary divisions are invited to fill in colours for a drawing by local illustrator Dreamergo, and free to add their own elements to express what “mutual respect, friendship and inclusion” mean to them. There is even greater room for creativity for Upper Primary participants, who need to draw an A4 size picture based on the same theme.
Cash prizes up to HK$2,000 will be awarded to the winners. Application will close on 31 August 2020 (Monday). Learn more about the rules now and start drawing away!
Download the leaflet and submission form
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In a statement last week, the EOC welcomed the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB)’s recent release of the “Persons with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Programme Plan” (RPP) formulated by the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee, while highlighting additional issues of concern relating to support for carers, students with special educational needs, accessibility of buildings, and mental health facilities.
Comprised of 62 recommendations, the RPP has adopted some of the suggestions made by civil society groups and the public during consultation, such as increasing the statutory minimum area of floor space for each resident at residential care homes, working alongside the EOC to step up employer education regarding reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities (PWDs), and acknowledging the need to safeguard equal participation of PWDs in arts, cultural, recreational and sports activities.
Besides urging for implementation of the recommendations, the EOC recommends that the Government: (i) devise a holistic plan to identify different kinds of carers and the support they need; (ii) consider offering a dedicated fund for all higher education institutions, including private ones, to establish an Equal Opportunities Office undertaking support services for students with special educational needs or other disabilities; (iii); explore legislation to require phased retrofitting of buildings constructed before 1997 to ensure barrier-free access; and (iv) remove the potentially stigmatising reference to mental health facilities under “Group B” of “Sensitive Community Facilities” in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.
Click the link below to read the statement and learn more about the EOC’s take on the RPP.
Read the press release
More on the RPP
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The EOC issued a statement on 9 July 2020 welcoming the passage of the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 in the Legislative Council on the same day.
The Bill extends the statutory maternity leave under the Employment Ordinance from the current 10 weeks to 14 weeks. The Government will reimburse employers for the cost of the additional leave, capped at HK$80,000 per employee.
EOC Chairperson, Mr Ricky CHU Man-kin said, “We are pleased that the Legislative Council has passed the Bill, which demonstrates the Government’s commitment in promoting a family-friendly culture among employers. The move is also in line with the guidelines issued by the International Labour Organization, as well as recommendations made by the EOC over the years. Mothers and babies in Hong Kong will be able to enjoy greater health and well-being because of it.”
The Bill is the second of recent legislative changes that helped advance women's rights. As Mr Chu wrote in an article published by Hong Kong Free Press, last month saw the gazettal of the Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2020, which, among other changes, amended the Sex Discrimination Ordinance to provide protection for breastfeeding women from direct and indirect discrimination in key sectors of public life, such as education, employment and the provision of goods, services and facilities.The Ordinance came into force on 19 June 2020, with the exception of the breastfeeding-related provisions which would come into force on 19 June 2021.
Read the EOC’s statement on the passage of the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019
Read Mr Chu’s article on the Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2020
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Why do some people laugh off male victims of sexual harassment? Do sexually active men deserve all the shaming and blaming when they fall prey to sexual violence and blackmailing?
These are some of the pressing questions asked and answered at an online seminar hosted by the Gender Research Centre (GRC) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong on 3 July 2020, following media reports of a sextortion case involving nearly 300 men in Hong Kong, which touched off a wave of mockery on- and offline. Entitled “Still a Taboo? The Situation Facing Male Victims of Sexual Violence” (仍是禁忌？性暴力男受害人的處境), the event brought together NGO representatives and scholars, including Prof Susanne CHOI, EOC Member and GRC Co-Director.
Click the link below to watch the full video footage.
About the event
Watch the video (Cantonese only)
