Another tragedy attracted hot debate is the extermination of a family in Tin Shui Wai. A father stabbed his wife and daughters to death before committing suicide. Police and social workers were blamed for their inefficiency and negligence in handling the problem. They should put the victims' safety as the first priority instead of trying to mediate the disputes.

The jury in the Coroners' Court of the Tin Shui Wai's tragedy echoed with the assertion and asked for zero tolerance against domestic violence. They also made a few proposals and urged the Government to educate the public about domestic violence and train our police force and social workers.

Statistics in Hong Kong
In fact, domestic violence is not a new social problem. What the media reported is just a partial reflection of the reality. Only cases involving death or serious injury would be reported. Hence, how many domestic violence cases do we actually have in Hong Kong? We may find a clue from statistics collected by different institutions.

According to statistics from the Social Welfare Department, the number of battered spouse cases has increased twofold from 1,679 in 1999 to 3,298 in 2003. Its statistics indicate that most cases occurred in those new town districts such as Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Shatin. On the other hand, statistics from Harmony House(Notes1) show that the number of women and children admitted in its refuge shelter has increased from 410 (2003-2004) to 513 (2004-2005) whilst the number of calls received by its Women Hotline also increases to a record breaking number – 10,457 in 2004-2005.

Not surprisingly, there are more than one possible interpretations of the increasing trend of domestic violence cases. First, media reports about serious domestic crimes indirectly alert the public to the consequences of domestic violence. Victims would try to face their problems and seek help earlier in order to avoid those consequences. Second, there are more NGOs(Notes2) educating the public about domestic violence. With such an increased understanding of the issue, the problem of under-reporting domestic violence cases is being tackled. Victims would have more support to overcome their social and psychological barriers, and have more channels to seek help. This is of crucial importance to Chinese people who tend to be more reserved when dealing with their domestic problems. Last but not the least, some people also suggest that the increasing trend is also due to social and economic pressure.

Nonetheless, with no further studies, we cannot conclude which of the above factors is the most influential one.

Make A Move, Rotaractors!
With regard to this problem, our Rotaract district has chosen the theme of combating domestic violence for the district service project this Rotary year. This theme was voted by all Rotaract clubs during the Joint President Meeting. The motion passed with 13 votes which was the simple majority of clubs present in the meeting.

"Research findings showed that family cohesiveness in our society was decreasing. The number of domestic violence cases is on the rise too. We do hope to raise public awareness of this issue through our service project," said Vincent Lui, our District Rotaract Representative, when he explained the reason why the district board would propose this theme. True enough, raising public awareness is the very first step we can do as it is suggested that domestic violence is hard to stop because it is hard to report. If victims do not seek help, no one can help and protect them.

When being asked about the expectation on Rotaract clubs in this project, DRR Vincent said, "I hope every club in our district can participate in the organization of the project, which is the very meaning of a district project. And the organization process is foreseeably long. It can certainly enhance cooperation between clubs."

Would this district project as successful as We Care We Smile? With all of your participation and support, it certainly would.

An Overview of Domestic Violence

Definition
Domestic violence is an act of violence or willful neglect done by one family member to other family members causing physical, psychological or emotional harm. The victim can be a child, a spouse (can be either the wife or the husband) or an elderly.  

Forms of abuse
Physical, sexual and psychological

Effects on Victims
Mood disorder, eating disorder, chronic pain, death, drug and alcohol dependence, panic attacks, sexual dysfunction, repeated self-injury, sleep disorders, inability to respond to children's needs

Effects on Children
academic problems; agitation - feeling "jumpy"; aggression; behavior problems; depression; distractibility; flashbacks; general emotional distress; increased arousal; intrusive thoughts; low self-esteem; nightmares; obsessive behaviors; phobias; poor problem-solving skills; posttraumatic stress disorder; revenge seeking; suicidal behaviors.

(For the full list of effects, you may refer to therapist finder.net http://www.therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/)