Family Project
Fact Sheet
Background
 The family is the base of every society. No harmonious society can be built without loving
family relationships. However, traditional family values inevitably start to change when a
society becomes more economically, socially and educationally advanced, as is the case in
today's Hong Kong. In recent years, the number of family discords reported in Hong Kong has
been steadily increasing, particularly family violence cases. This in turn gives rise to psychosocial problems affecting the entire family, ranging from strained relationships and divorces to
poor academic performance, delinquency, mental disorders, and alcohol and drug problems.
 The situation in Hong Kong is further complicated by problems created by new immigrant
families, old men with no financial means marrying young Mainland wives and married men
setting up second homes across the border, with traditional family values either diluted or lost in
this confused era.
 After extensive discussion with interested parties, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has decided to
launch a citywide project on its own initiative, aimed at addressing these problems at source.
Donation Amount
 HK$250 million
The Programme
 The project will use a public health approach that brings together various scientific disciplines
such as medicine, epidemiology, psychology, social work, health and criminology, and link
these with education, labour, business, the media and criminal justice so as to identify the source
of these problems and derive a preventive response that is complementary, wide-reaching,
pervasive, and effective. Government and other related organisations will be able to use the
information to formulate long-term public policies and programmes.
 The project comprises three components:

Household survey
Aim:
To identify the trend and magnitude of the problems affecting society
Target:
20,000 local households
Period:
Five years
Research organisations: The School of Public Health and Policy 21 Ltd of HKU

Public Education
Aim:
To achieve a cultural change in the way modern families should function
Period:
Five years
Responsible organisation: The Journalism and Media Studies Centre of HKU

Intervention and evaluation
 Based on the results of the survey, intervention strategies and programmes will be
devised and implemented across Hong Kong with the collaboration of nongovernmental agencies.
 Evaluation of these programmes to test their effectiveness will be conducted by the
School of Public Health of HKU and other agencies.
Statistics of domestic violence in Hong Kong:
 Reported child abuse cases have increased by 145% from 311 cases in 1996 to 763 cases in 2005.
 Reported battered spouse cases have increased by 257% from 1,009 cases in 1998 to 3,598 cases in
2005.
 Results of a citywide prevalence survey conducted in 2005 indicate that 60,000 children and 70,000
spouses suffer from severe to very severe abuse. The number of reported cases represents only 1-2%
of the total number of cases.1
20 August 2007
1
Survey conducted by Department of Social Work & Social Administration of The University of Hong Kong and
commissioned by Social Welfare Department