The Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Released Findings of the “Research on Public Attitudes towards Female Political Leadership”
On October 7, the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) released the findings of the “Research on Public Attitudes towards Female Political Leadership”, which were reported widely by local media. Commissioned by EOC, the research was conducted by the research team of the Gender Research Centre (GRC) of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prof. Song Jing, Assistant Professor of Gender Studies Programme leads this research project and serves as the principal investigator.
The study showed that over 60% respondents, composed of the public and politicians, believed that domestic responsibility was an obstacle for female politicians. It is also highlighted that female leaders “received unwanted public attention with a focus on their body shape, appearance and private lives. The research also provides practical suggestions to eliminate the difficulties female leaders face in participating politics and increase the representation of female politicians, such as introducing family-friendly policies, including flexible working hours and parental leave.
Media Coverage:
The Standard: Women making strides, but some barriers remain
The Standard: Female politicians viewed through deep-rooted stereotypes, survey finds
RTHK English News: Female politicians plagued by gender bias: study
Truth Media Hong Kong: Facebook Live Broadcast
苹果日报:平机会发现过度关注外貌成女性从政障碍 吁避免「好打得」标签应注重表现
香港商报:Facebook Live Broadcast I
LGBT Rights in Hong Kong: the Path to Equality Revealed by Two Rulings
Prof Yiu-tung Suen of the Gender Studies Programme has been interviewed by BBC on the two recent rulings related to LGBT rights in Hong Kong recently.
Prof Suen said in most cases concerning LGBT rights, if the complaints applied for a judicial review on specific benefits and policies, they would normally have the chance to win, according to the current situation. The courts would regard that giving same-sex couples equal treatment has no harm to the heterosexual marriage system.
However, when the case touches the overall system and definition of same-sex couples in a larger scale, the probability of winning is small. Both the two recent cases show this trend.
Media: BBC News (Chinese Version)
Zoom Link for Classes of BSSc in Gender Studies
For the start of Term 1 2020-21, CUHK will be using Zoom as a platform for online teaching. If you are a CUHK student and interested in auditing the first two classes of the term for consideration of adding or dropping the courses, please refer to this pdf file for the links to the Zoom classes. (CUHK students only)
Changes of Family Life in Contemporary China|China Review 特刊
by Song Jing, Ji Yingchun
Media : WeChat Public Account: Lady Muse 繆斯夫人
宋婧 計迎春
How do young couple living together divide housework? Do they seek for more gender equality?
by Song Jing, Lai Weiwen
青年同居情侶如何分配家務?他們會更追求性別平等嗎?
Media: Zhishifenzi.com (知識份子)
Curiouser and Curiouser
Prof. Ivy Wong was interviewed by the RTHK programme “Curiouser and Curiouser (敏感時刻)” on transgender issues. The interview starts at around 32:30 of the programme.
Media: RTHK
‘Ensure workplace protection for LGBT people in HK’
Photo: Shutterstock
Prof Yiu-tung Suen of the Gender Studies Programme has been interviewed on the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision on 17th June 2020 which rules that LGBT workers are protected from discrimination in the workplace.
Speaking to the Radio Television Hong Kong, Prof Suen said mandatory workplace protection would be a good place to start given there’s public support for the idea and businesses are already taking steps to protect their LGBT employees.
Suen said that research shows that LGBT people in the SAR face unfriendly attitudes from bosses and colleagues and may even be denied jobs, and that this may be more common in sectors like education and healthcare, with interviewees telling him that coming out would be “career suicide”. However, his research has shown that support for protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is quite high, and that earlier this year, a study he carried out showed that opposition to this kind of protection has dropped to “a historical low” of 12 percent. He told RTHK: “The government has to answer why they are not responsive to both the general public, the LGBT community as well as the business community.”
Media Coverage:
Collaboration with WUN on women’s mobility in Asia
Prof. SONG Jing of the Gender Studies Programme at CUHK received a grant from the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Research Development Fund (RDF) in 2018 to conduct a project titled ‘Women’s Mobility: Negotiating Work and Family Spheres in Asia’ which examines women’s mobility as a combined consequence of micro-level individual and family strategies and macro-level migration policies and trends in Asian societies. It has participation from four WUN member universities—The University of Sydney, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of York and Zhejiang University—and seven non-WUN member universities, including Fudan University and the University of Oxford. For more details, please see the report from Office of Academic Links of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Media Coverage:
Researcher urges same-sex couples law review
Photo: Shutterstock
Prof. Suen Yiu Tung, Assistant Professor of the Gender Studies Programme, and Founding Director of the Sexualities Research Programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong was interviewed live on RTHK’s ‘Hong Kong Today’ Programme to talk about the recent verdict that the Housing Authority’s rejection of an application for public housing by a same-sex couple was discriminatory and unlawful. And his research, concerning public attitudes toward sexual minorities, was quoted in a number of local outlets such as RTHK, Apple Daily, and Oriental Daily.
The Court of First Instance has handed down a judgment on 4 March 2020 to rule that the Hong Kong Housing Authority’s refusal to recognise same-sex marriages when assessing applications for public rental housing is unlawful and unconstitutional.
Suen Yiu-tung told RTHK on Thursday it would be a waste of public resources for the government to appeal Wednesday’s judgment.
The Sexualities Research Programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong provides some empirical evidence for understanding the social sentiment on the issue. In response to the question ‘If a same-sex couple is in a stable long-term relationship, do you agree with their right to apply for public housing as a family unit?’, 52% of the respondents said they very much agreed/ agreed in 2019, as compared to 39% back in 2016. According to the 2019 survey, only 24% said they disagreed/ very much disagreed with such a right, as compared to 33% back in 2016.
Media Coverage:
Support for laws against LGBT discrimination in Hong Kong rising, Chinese University survey finds
Photo: Chris Lau
Prof. Yiu Tung Suen of Gender Studies Programme, CUHK brought attention to the waning opposition to legal protections for Hong Kong’s sexual minorities and urge the government to reconsider bringing in protective legislation preventing discrimination against LGBT people.
Media Coverage:
South China Morning Post (as lead story on A1 in printed version)
Radio on 8th Jan 2020
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