Key Figures
RainLily, the first-ever one-stop sexual violence crisis centre in Hong Kong, has provided a range of support services for sexual violence victim-survivors since its establishment in 2000. Over the past five years (2019-2023), RainLily has received and handled a total of 1,984 sexual victimisation cases, all involving female victim-survivors. To provide valuable insights into the overall picture of the issues in Hong Kong, our team has decided to initiate this retrospective study series by analysing and presenting RainLily's case information every five years, starting with this inaugural report. This series aims to enhance data tracking and monitoring regarding sexual violence problems in our local community, and facilitate the identification of emerging trends as well as the timely adjustments of support measures.
As the inaugural report in the series, a total of 1,984 cases between 2019 and 2023 are included and analysed. Of these cases, 1,951 are newly reported or reopened due to revictimisation (i.e. new or different incidents), and the remaining 33 cases were re-activated due to survivors’ continuing needs.
*Due to rounding individual item percentages, the sum of the percentages for each item may not precisely equal 100.0% in some figures. This discrepancy is a result of rounding effects and does not indicate an error in the data.
Case Trend
In-Depth Follow-Up Cases
Source of referrals
Victim-survivors that sought help on their own increased 91.0% over the two most recent five-year periods.
Gender of perpetrator
Victim-perpetrator relationship
Between two 5-year periods:
199 → 344 cases ｜ Cases perpetrated by intimate partner increased by 72.9%
196 → 340 cases ｜ Cases perpetrated by work acquaintance increased by 73.5%
32 → 209 cases ｜ Cases perpetrated by online acquaintance increased by 553.1%
Case Characteristics
Location of incident
Did the victim-survivor receive medical services
Did the victim-survivor report to police
Delayed presentation
Victim-survivor age at the time of the sexual violence incident
Mean Age at the time of the sexual violence incident
2014－2018：25.3 years old
2019－2023：24.4 years old
Cases involved victim-survivors under 18 years old
2014－2018：26.8%
2019－2023：25.8%
Victim-survivor age at the time the case was reported to RainLily
Mean Age at the time the case was reported to RainLily
2014 - 2018：30.2 years old
2019 - 2023：28.6 years old
Delay in seeking help in general
Average delay in seeking help (in days)
Intimate Partner Sexual Violence
In sexual violence cases that involved an intimate partner relationship:
72.0% of intimate partner sexual violence victim-survivors are aged 18-39 years old at the time of the incident
59.3% involved Penetrative Sexual Assault
34.6% involved Non-Physical Contact Sexual Assualt
54.5% occurred in residential premises
63.6% are repeated sexual violence incidents
Image-Based Sexual Violence
Image-Based Sexual Violence (IBSV) behaviours involved
In image-based sexual violence cases:
79.6% of IBSV victim-survivors are aged 18-39 years old at the time of the incident
Victim-perpetrator relationship:
45.0% involved intimate partner
22.3% involved online acquaintance
10.0% involved work acquaintance
63.3% of IBSV cases are repeated incidents
Sexual violence involving online acquaintances
In sexual violence cases that involved online acquaintance:
38.8% are aged 18-24 at the time of the incident
24.4% are aged 12-17 at the time of the incident
58.4% involved penetrative sexual assault
25.4% involved non-physical contact sexual assault
29.6% occurred in residential premises
29.0% occurred in rest place (e.g. hotel & hostel)
24.2% occurred in online / instant messaging platform
The above highlights are part of the findings from RainLily Retrospective Study Statistical Report 2019 - 2023. For further details on the state of sexual violence in Hong Kong, please see the full report.
*Due to rounding individual item percentages, the sum of the percentages for each item may not precisely equal 100.0% in some figures. This discrepancy is a result of rounding effects and does not indicate an error in the data.