We give the Prism Award each year to the people who have contributed the most to the gay community in Hong Kong. It’s normally such a hard task to sort through our short-list, but this year was easy.

The Women Coalition of HKSAR has been such a vital part of Hong Kong’s LGBT community since its inception. Connie Chan and her team were instrumental in bringing about Hong Kong’s first Pride Parade. Without their spirit and enthusiasm we wouldn’t have been able to get the past two years up and running.

And as one of Hong Kong’s foremost social change advocates, the Women Coalition spearheaded the team that brought about the much-needed change in the Domestic Violence Ordinance last year. In their ground-breaking study of same-sex domestic violence in Asia, the WCHK in conjunction with Professor Winnie Mak of CUHK discovered startling evidence that domestic abuse was actually more prevalent in same-sex couples, especially when you look at psychological abuse. This study was presented to the government as part of their campaign to enable same-sex abuse victims to be protected under Domestic Violence Ordinance. Domestic violence sadly affects so many people around the world, and statistics for same-sex domestic violence show much the same propensity as in gender-opposite couples. There is also a serious danger of under-reporting, as for gender-opposite couples, but it’s worse for same-sex partners, for whom there is the added opprobrium of being in a same-sex relationship where the police and social workers may not be able to provide the same level of help as to a heterosexual victim. Partly this is to do with attitudes, partly with training, but fundamentally it is to do with inadequate laws that simply don’t recognise same-sex domestic violence..

The Domestic Violence Ordinance ultimately had to change its name to appease opponents to the amendment, but this shows a spirit of compromise in the face of practicality - there were victims that needed protection immediately. Even though they’ve won this battle, WCHK aren’t resting on their laurels - now is the time to make sure the amended Ordinance gets properly implemented. But now that we’ve broken this ground, let’s break new ground! Our most important challenge is to end discrimination, so let’s work together with WCHK and get our anti-discrimination laws amended once and for all!

The Prism Award is generously supported by Volume