The Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations published the first study on female homeless persons in Hong Kong and found that the proportion of female homeless persons in the overall street-sleeping population increased from 5.5% in 2014 to 10.9% in 2021. According to figures registered by the Social Welfare Department, there are about There are 170 female homeless people, a three-fold increase from seven years ago to a new high.
The Social Association believes that the actual number of female homeless persons should be higher than the number of registered persons. This study found that female homeless persons suffer from mental illnesses in a common situation, and nearly 50% of them need psychiatric treatment.
The Social Association believes that the increase in the number and proportion of female homeless people is related to the insufficient government support services. The homeless services have always been dominated by men. Therefore, the society and the government are urged to pay attention to their needs, such as adding special facilities for women. The integrated service team.
The Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations published the first female homeless study and found that the proportion of female homeless people in the overall street-sleeping population has nearly doubled to a new high from 2014 to 2021, which is believed to be related to insufficient government support services.
(Photo by Li Qianting)
Lack of two-person accommodation, Ning "Liaojie" because I want to have a partner for support
A Jie and A Feng, who were former street sleepers, are in a relationship. Both of them are renewers. A Jie’s original public house was taken back because of imprisonment. She said that she had planned to live in a dormitory. The bed is underground," and the sanitary environment is poor, such as broken beds, lice infestation, and no privacy.
Ajie said that she suffers from mental illness and needs regular follow-up consultations. Her boyfriend is her spiritual support. However, there is currently a lack of two-person government-subsidized residential places. She does not want to be separated from her boyfriend after living in a single place. Accompanying and reminding oneself to take psychiatric drugs, so they refuse to sleep "I would rather sleep together and not want to be separated."
Ah Feng also pointed out that it is extremely important for the two to support each other. In the past, if his girlfriend forgot to take medicine, his mental state would become unstable.
Boarding is prone to friction and needs spiritual support
Another homeless, Ms. Chen, has stayed in the dormitories twice. She said that these dormitories are "big shop", and most of the street sleepers are mentally sensitive and prone to friction, and there is no way to investigate the stolen property. The dormitory has even happened A child is bitten by lice and needs to go to the hospital for medical treatment.
The first time she stayed in the boarding period was very short, and she was expelled within two months. She described that "Chaoqi first started reworking and saved a sum of money to move out, so I can't be financially independent." She continued to feel that during the boarding period Very hesitant and low self-esteem, "Even if I have a bed and two meals, the trauma of my heart cannot be healed." She believes that many women street sleepers need spiritual support. Some women are more sensitive and fragile but have difficulty asking for help. I hope the government will focus on taking care of it. Women’s mental health has allowed the crowd to get rid of their own demons and get back on track.
May, who is over 60 years old, once worked as a "Mc Refugee." When she wandered around at McDonald's, her belongings were often stolen.
In the past, when sleeping on the street, people were "to the world" while sleeping. Female homeless people around them also had the experience of being sexually harassed, unable to protect themselves and their personal safety was threatened.
There are only 31 government-sponsored female hostels in Hong Kong for a maximum of half a year
Community Organization Officer Wu Weidong pointed out that out of the 222 government-funded places, there are only 31 places for women. It can be seen that there is a serious shortage of places and most of them have no private space. The length of stay is only 3-6 months. The government replaced the "Datong Shop" with cubicles or independent houses, and extended the stay to 2 years.
He also pointed out that sometimes different social welfare agencies will distribute clothing bags, but these resources are often not divided by men and women, such as the lack of underwear, sanitary napkins, etc., in order to meet the unique needs of women, it is recommended that the government should set up specifically for women Comprehensive service center and organization of all-female professional team to serve female street sleepers.
Advocate strengthening of mental health services to provide double places
Xue Jinping, director of the Association of Community Organizations, said that there was a case in which extra beds were vacated during the female dormitory. The host arranged for men to move in. In the end, a large number of women left to sleep again, and most of the homeless women wanted private space. , Focusing on privacy and security.
Xue You pointed out that there have been cases sharing with her that she had been sexually assaulted and sexually harassed while sleeping on the street. He believed that there are many differences between male and female street sleepers. For example, women have strong emotional, emotional and mental health needs. Each team of the outreach team has only one psychiatric nurse, but the nurse is unable to diagnose and prescribe medication. The organization recommends that the government should allocate additional resources to strengthen mental health services for the homeless, hire clinical psychologists and doctors, and strengthen Communication with front-line staff.
In addition, the organization also suggested that the government should follow the example of the United Kingdom to set up two-person dormitories. It has noticed that many female homeless people choose to sleep on the street because of their partnership. After the dormitories are set up, they will cooperate with social workers to follow up and intervene, which is believed to help solve the problem.
The number of street sleepers increased by 15% last year. The civil affairs refused to open the center for short stays: the "residence" of the street sleepers confirmed by the epidemic risk was left in low-clothed people in the George V Park. The residents continued to eat and sleep. A large number of homeless people are forced to gather on the street. The government regularly washes the peaceful land without hindrance. Street sleepers are temporarily staying at Kwun Tong Ferry Piers to "return and move back in"
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