The 39th Anniversary General Meeting of Harmony House, along with the anniversary forum on "Psychological Abuse – The Invisible Harm" successfully concluded on November 22 2024.
We were thrilled to have over 165 guests, participants, and colleagues attend this annual event in person. Special thanks to our Officiating Guest, Mr. Wong Kwok-Chun, Deputy Director (Services) of the Social Welfare Department, for his speech during the meeting and for presenting commemorative gifts to our friendly partners, including: Zonta Club of Kowloon, Wan Chai Rotary Club, Zonta Club of New Territories II, SHELTER, Christie's Hong Kong Limited, A Plastic Ocean Foundation, The Hong Kong Ladies Tennis League, and Coty HK. We sincerely thank them for their donations and support to Harmony House over the past year!
During the Annual Forum of "Psychological Abuse – The Invisible Harm", not only did we invited service users to share their personal experiences and challenges faced in dealing with psychological violence, but also welcomed registered counseling psychologist and marriage and family therapist Ms. Hong Chi-Man, who analyzed the far-reaching impact of psychological abuse between parents and their children. Ms. Hong earnestly expressed, "Protecting and maintaining healthy family relationships is everyone's responsibility. Do not harm your dearest family members due to momentary emotional outbursts. When facing any form of domestic violence, always remember to seek help early to prevent repercussions for the next generation."
Another guest speaker, Dr. Chiu Lai-man, Associate Fellow of the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association Ltd and founder of the Elpis Holistic Development Centre, guided frontline workers through three different cases of psychological violence between intimate partners, prompting them to reflect on their professional attitudes and intervention strategies in assisting help-seekers to recognize the existence and harm of psychological violence, and to escape from difficulties as soon as possible.
Solicitor and Advocacy Committee Member of Zonta Club of New Territories II, Ms. Chan Chi Ching, discussed the current laws in Hong Kong related to domestic violence and psychological abuse during the forum. She educated victims on how to respond and document experiences for evidence, shared Sweden's successful legislative model for preventing psychological abuse, and advocated for the government to establish a database to track and collect data on psychological abuse cases. This would help to find out the prevalence and impact of such cases, facilitating the implementation of appropriate service planning to support different individuals affected by psychological abuse.
