Legal support for survivors — at the hospital, at the police station, and through the proceedings that follow.
Direct legal assistance to survivors of sexual and domestic violence — including evidence-gathering, representation in criminal and civil proceedings, and multi-agency coordination to secure safety for survivors and their families.
Domestic and sexual violence affects people across every background. For asylum seekers and non-refoulement claimants, the barriers to accessing protection are compounded by immigration status, language, financial dependency, and a well-founded fear that involvement with police or courts could jeopardise their claim. The result is that abuse that would be reported and acted on in other circumstances goes unaddressed — or is addressed only after it has escalated severely.
The clinic works in this area in close partnership with the Hong Kong Dignity Institute, whose frontline relationships with clients make early intervention possible. Our role is the legal one: advising survivors on their options, accompanying them through police reporting and statement-taking, gathering the evidence that legal proceedings require, and — where needed — pursuing civil remedies including injunctions to protect survivors and their children.
This work is done carefully. Clients in this area are often managing acute trauma alongside acute legal need. Students who work in this practice area receive training in trauma-informed communication before engaging directly with clients, and work under close supervision throughout.
Cases in this area span immediate crisis response and longer-term legal proceedings. Students contribute at every stage, under supervision.
When a survivor presents following a violent incident, the clinic's immediate role is practical: attending at hospital, advising on rights, accompanying through police reporting and initial statement-taking. Speed and presence matter as much as legal knowledge at this stage.
Building a case requires systematic documentation. Students compile detailed factual timelines, draft formal requests for medical records and police files, liaise with social workers and multi-agency case conferences, and obtain corroborating records from welfare organisations — assembling the evidential foundation that legal proceedings require.
Where criminal prosecution is underway or insufficient alone, civil remedies — including injunctions — may be available to protect survivors and their children. The clinic assesses the merits of such applications and, where warranted, prepares and pursues them. Multi-agency coordination with social services and housing providers is often essential to securing the practical safety that a court order requires to be effective.
"The law offers remedies. The work is making those remedies reachable."
Cases in this practice area cannot be fully described in public. These two matters give a sense of what the work involves in practice. Client names are first names only and details have been generalised to protect identity.
Following a serious assault that required surgery, an urgent hospital visit was conducted by the clinic and HKDI to provide legal advice and emotional support to Miriam and her children. The immediate priority was ensuring she understood her options and was supported through what followed.
The clinic assisted in reporting the incident to the police and guided Miriam through the process of formal interviews and statement-taking. These steps were instrumental in the criminal prosecution of the abuser, who was subsequently arrested and brought before the magistracy.
Students played a central role in this matter from the initial intake stage. Working under supervision, they took detailed instructions from Sari and compiled a case memo and factual timeline documenting a sustained history of abuse — essential groundwork for any legal proceedings that might follow.
The primary task was building the evidentiary record needed to assess the merits of an injunction application to protect Sari and her children. This required systematic outreach across multiple agencies:
This practice area is built around a close working relationship with the Hong Kong Dignity Institute, whose frontline presence and existing relationships with clients make the clinic's legal contribution possible. The clinic provides the legal input; HKDI provides the continuity of care.