Stalking: Intimate Partner Violence and Debt Collection Problems in Hong Kong

Abstract

Stalking (harassment that causes fear) is known to be a serious social problem worldwide. However, there is no empirical research in Hong Kong confirming the scale of the problem or identifying how much of the problem stems from debt collection (i.e. which could in theory be addressed through regulation of debt collection), former cohabitees (i.e. which could in theory be addressed through domestic violence legislation) or others (e.g. people who have positive or negative emotions towards the victim which they cannot address through normal relationships). This study builds on the previous survey research done by the research team on violence against women and crime victimization in order to provide the qualitative and quantitative evidence needed to identify how best the problem can be addressed in Hong Kong. A small-scale telephone survey (1,050 respondents) was used to provide estimates of prevalence (one year and ever) of stalking (in different forms) against both adult men and women in Hong Kong. Follow-up interviews (28 interviews covering 48 stalking incidents), were used to provide details of the nature of victims’ lived experience.

纏擾（即會令受害者產⽣恐懼的⼀種騷擾）是世界各地皆有的嚴重社會問題。不過， 香港⾄今並沒有實證研究確定纏擾的規模和起因，例如是否來⾃收取債務（理論上可 以透過監管收債⽅式解決），前同居者（理論上可通過家庭暴⼒法例處理）或其他⼈ （例如對受害者有正⾯或負⾯情緒，⽽這些情緒不能在正常關係中表達出來）。這個 研究將建基於研究⼩組過往有關犯罪受害問題及婦⼥性暴⼒的問卷調查上，提供所需 的質性與量性數據，以確定香港解決此問題的最佳⽅法。本研究會採⽤⼩型的電話問 卷調查 (1,050 名受訪者)，以估計香港成年男⼥被纏擾 (以不同形式) 的普遍性 (⼀年以 上)。研究進⾏了深⼊訪談跟進個案 (28 次訪談涉及 48 個纏擾事件)，從⽽了解受害者 經歷的纏擾性質及細節。