Hong Kong Watch, Freiheit für Hongkong and Hongkonger in Deutschland make UN joint submission on Women’s Rights

Last week, Hong Kong Watch, Freiheit für Hongkong e.V. and Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V. made a joint submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women concerning the situation of women’s rights in Hong Kong. 

The submission focused on the violations against women human rights defenders, and included testimonies by Carmen Lau, Anna Kwok, and Chung Ching Kwong. 

The submission addressed gender-based violence against women, participation in political and public life, retrogression of women’s rights after the National Security Law, representation of women, and the rights of women human rights defenders and women’s non-governmental organisations. 

Hong Kong Watch made an additional submission addressing women’s rights violations since the National Security Law was passed, focusing on gender-based violence against women (including women protestors, lack of accountability for harassment of protestors, lack of accountability for rape allegations), participation in political and public life, representation of women, and women human rights defenders and women’s non-governmental organisations. 

Both submissions are available here. 

All organisations look forward to participating in the UN’s review of China (including Hong Kong)’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which will take place in May. This will be an opportunity to again raise the violations of women’s rights that have been and are still taking place in Hong Kong. 

Anouk Wear, research and policy advisor at Hong Kong Watch, commented that “Women’s rights are interdependent and indivisible from other human rights, and the repression in Hong Kong is leading to violations of women’s rights as a part of the overall reductions in rights and freedoms. This is completely unacceptable. 

It is critical that we speak out for every single human rights violation in Hong Kong, seek accountability, and press the Hong Kong government to fulfill its international legal obligations related to human rights.”