Challenges faced by SV Survivors under COVID-19
In Hong Kong, public health and social measures have caused greater emotional burden to those experienced the trauma of sexual violence. Along with the worry of getting infected and experiencing information anxiety, survivors are also affected by increased flashback frequency due to decreased social contacts.
The ever-changing state of the pandemic and related measures also created barriers for survivors in the process of seeking justice in the criminal legal system, resulting in prolonged anxiety, and highlights the need for adequate emotional support for victim-survivors of sexual violence.
“It has been almost two years since the incident, I sought help, reported the case, and it was investigated. I want to put this down and move on to a new chapter, but for now I know I have to remember all the details about the incident because I have to testify in court. I thought this would be over soon, but now it feels like it is never-ending,” said Jessica, a service user of RainLily that was told that her court date has been adjourned for an unspecified time just a few days before she was set to testify.
Jessica said she understands the enormity of this pandemic, but the ever-shifting measures are severely affecting her mental state. The Judiciary’s adjournment of proceedings has extended the wait for survivors from the average one year to even longer. Some RainLily’s service users’ cases have been pending for nearly two year, and several others have seen their court date changed, causing extra stress for them.
Victim-survivors of sexual harassment experienced longer and more complicated procedures under the pandemic. Candy, a RainLily’s service user attempting to settle her complaint of sexual harassment through EOC has seen her conciliation meeting changed to paper meetings, with each “conversation” requires about a fortnight for a reply. Candy’s meeting was extended from the planned a few hours to three months for all procedures to complete.
“The conciliation meeting turned into the back and forth of many documents, which has been frustrating. It is impossible for a layperson like me to complete these forms and documents. I would have given up in the process if RainLily’s counsellors and pro-bono lawyers weren’t there to provide support,” said Candy.
Many victim-survivors of sexual harassment are often turned away by the complexity of complaint procedures and potential costly legal expenses. RainLily works with our pro-bono legal empowerment service partners to provide free legal consultation and support to service users. However, with the service being under-resourced, along with the impact of COVID-19, some support provided has changed to online format and postponed.
Along with many other frontline workers that provide support to victim-survivors of gender-based violence. We worry that emotional and mental health have been overlooked under the goal of elimination in response to the current pandemic. From past experiences and researches overseas, reports and help-seekers of sexual and gender-based violence have increased during the pandemic and continues to spike after the easing of public health and social measures. The effect of delay-reporting/disclosure under the pandemic has also been a major concern for us, which could project a drastic increase of help-seekers in the near future. We appeal for our communities and the government to increase sensitivity on the issue and provide more resources in support of victim-survivors of sexual violence and the mental health across communities.