Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women's Statement on Police Action to Publicly Discredit Victim of Rape

The Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women (the Association) is shocked and deeply concerned by the recent release of information by the police about an ongoing investigation into the alleged rape of a young woman in Tsuen Wan police station. The release of the information about the investigation by police, including comment on the evidence, was clearly intended to publicly discredit the victim and her allegations. This is unprecedented and deplorable.

The victim in this case has NOT made her allegations public. According to the police statement and subsequent media reports she followed established procedures in reporting the case and has given a statement to police. The victim has also cooperated in allowing the collection of a DNA sample from the foetus to conclusively identify the assailant. In not making her allegations public, the victim has clearly not sought to link them with the ongoing protest events in Hong Kong. In contrast, by issuing these press statements, the police have publicly confirmed the existence of these allegations whilst at the same time clearly trying to discredit and undermine them.

The victim in this case, like any victim of sexual violence is entitled to have her allegations investigated impartially, professionally and confidentially by the police, irrespective of who the alleged assailants are. This has clearly not happened in this case.

Victims of sexual violence already face an uphill battle to seek justice in Hong Kong. They need incredible courage to even report allegations. They must endure many hours of questions by strangers, they have to relive their traumatic experience through the statement taking process. They need to submit to intimate medical examinations, sometimes they have to undergo termination of pregnancy and they have to give evidence in court.

The Association has spent more than 20 years supporting victims of sexual violence and encouraging victims to come forward. Under reporting of sexual violence against women in Hong Kong is an ongoing problem. Our research has shown that of those who have been courageous enough to report a crime of sexual violence, only 1 out of 8 victims can expect to see their case resulting in a successful prosecution.

The action by the police in this case threatens to do irreparably harm to our efforts to encourage victims of sexual violence to come forward and seek justice.

The attempts by the police to publicly discredit this victim will only serve to deter future victims of sexual violence who will naturally fear that police will not investigate their complaints impartially, professionally or in a confidential manner. We therefore have the following call-to-action,

1. We call upon the police to immediately cease commenting on this investigation in such a way to discredit this victim and to retract such comments.

2. We call upon the police to publicly apologise to the victim.

3. We call upon the Security for Security to condemn the police attempts to discredit the victim and sabotage any prosecution of this case.

4. We call upon the Commissioner of Police to reassign this investigation to another team and to discipline those responsible for publicly commenting on the evidence in an ongoing investigation and seeking to discredit the victim.

5. We call upon the police to respect victims of sexual violence and investigate all allegations impartially, professionally and confidentially.

Lastly, we call upon all persons to respect the rights of this victim to anonymity and keep details of the evidence and the case confidential.

We encourage any victims of sexual violence to come forward and seek help from us (RainLily Helpline: 2375 5322), irrespective of who the assailants are. We will provide legal, medical, counselling and one-stop crisis support. We hereby emphasises that we do not have any reporting mechanism, the victims will not be forced to report their cases to the police, and we respect the victims' willingness of reporting. All information will be kept strictly confidential.