Force well geared to fight child pornography

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The Force is well geared to enforce new legislation to protect children from being sexually exploited for production of child pornography and child sex tourism, after over four years of preparation by the Crime Wing Support Group.

The legislation, known as the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance, will come into effect on December 19. The Ordinance strengthens protection to children by criminalising the printing, making, producing, reproducing, copying, importing, exporting, publishing, possessing and advertising of child pornography. Child pornography is defined as the pornographic visual depiction of a person who is or is depicted as being a person under 16.

According to the Ordinance's interpretation, child pornography includes a photograph, film, computer-generated image or other visual depiction, or anything that incorporates the above-mentioned photograph, film, image or depiction. In respect of using a person for making child pornography or live pornographic performance, it covers children under the age of 18.

However, Crime Support Superintendent Ms Cecilia Ng Suk-fun has specifically pointed out that enactment of the new Ordinance does not imply that Hong Kong has been plagued by a serious problem of child pornography.

No serious problem with child pornography

During an interview with OffBeat, she stressed: "We don't have a serious problem with child pornography or child sex tourism in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not a known production centre for child pornography. The new Ordinance will serve as a proactive measure for prevention and represents our efforts in offering better protection for our children, as well as meeting our obligations to international conventions, namely the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children and the International Labour Convention."

Ms Ng pointed out that given the heinous natures of child sex tours and the need for joint international efforts, the Ordinance provides "extra-territorial effect" to 24 sexual offence provisions under the Crimes Ordinance in respect of acts committed against children under 16. The offences include sexual intercourse with a girl under 16, rape and gross indecency with or by man under 21.

"The 24 sexual offences are listed in Schedule 2 of the Crimes Ordinance. If a person who is connected to Hong Kong, including Hong Kong permanent resident or person ordinarily residing in Hong Kong, commits any of those offences outside Hong Kong, but has escaped justice there, he is also liable to prosecution after his return. So, you can see that besides serving as a deterrent against child sex tourism, the new Ordinance will also protect children everywhere against sexual abuses and exploitation. The Ordinance also covers the illegal sexual activities committed against Hong Kong children overseas by persons not connected to Hong Kong," she explained.

Recently, Crime Support Group held two briefing sessions for over 300 frontline officers on the major provisions of the Ordinance, in addition to a separate briefing for NGOs and Social Welfare Department (SWD).

New legislation welcomed

Meanwhile, Child Abuse Investigation Unit officers have welcomed enactment of the new Ordinance. Detective Senior Inspector, Ms Celia Yip Kim-ying, who has just been transferred from the Kowloon East Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) to the Child Protection Policy Unit, regards the new Ordinance as a progressive effort in the direction of child protection.

"A big step was taken in child protection work with the establishment of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit in December 1995. Prior to this, legislative amendments were made to allow victims of child abuse to give statements on video which could be adduced as evidence in court and to testify through CCTV link," she noted.

While she was working in the CAIU, one of Ms Yip's main responsibilities was to investigate sexual abuse of children aged below 17 by members of their families/extended families or by those who are entrusted with the care of the children. She sees "a big difference" between investigation of child sexual abuse cases and other investigation work, and regards her job as "a big challenge and very meaningful".

Though having accumulated nearly four years' experience in crime investigation work, Ms Yip still regards her job "by no means easy". She explained: "This is mainly because in most cases the suspects were someone the victims loved and respected, someone they trusted, or someone related to them. The victims, therefore, commonly faced the dilemma as whether or not to disclose the incidents to us. In respect of investigation, it was difficult to elicit the facts from children who were too young to express themselves given their limited vocabularies and the difficulty in appreciating the time. The incidents, being extremely traumatic to them, also added difficulties to investigation.

"One of the major difficulties came from the victim's family members who were reluctant to assist in our investigations or even refused to talk to CAIU officers," Ms Yip continued. "The prospect of the suspect being sent to jail and the subsequent impact on the family, had made some family members, and even the victims, think twice before confiding anything to us."

Overcoming the problems required careful planning, tact, determination, patience, sympathy, and common sense, Ms Yip said. But it was even more important to map out strategies and to establish close liaison with relevant government departments and non-governmental organisations at the early stage of investigation.

"That's why Regional Child Protection Special Investigation Teams comprising officers of CAIU and SWD were set up at the outset to chart the courses of actions. Professionals from schools, hospitals and NGOs will be invited to attend case conferences when necessary for formulating welfare plans for child victims and their families," said Ms Yip.

Low-key approach

Ms Yip pointed out that the unique nature of child abuse cases also required a low-key approach in terms of publicity throughout investigation and trials. "It's not something that we would blow our own trumpet; we usually take a low profile even if we've secured a successful prosecution," she added.

Meanwhile, the Police Clinical Psychologist of the Child Protection Policy Unit, Mr Ephraem Tsui, pointed out that the trauma that children exploited in child pornography had gone through could leave a serious impact. "Psychologically they may feel helpless, ashamed and guilty of being a victim of a crime, knowing their images are being used by offenders to groom and abuse other children," he noted.

Mr Tsui said many victims of child pornography would require long-term psychological counseling to help them overcome their trauma, adding that the counseling services should better be supplemented by a self-help group where the victims could help and support each other.

SP Ng Suk-fun (centre) and representatives from Department of Justice and CCB taking questions during a briefing session on the new Ordinance