From 2015 to 2016, HER Fund has made grants of a $443,000 to 9 seed projects in its second cycle to support local marginalized women and promote gender equality and women's human rights. Those projects supported sexual minorities to face rejection and encouraged diversity and acceptance in church. They helped migrant domestic workers and refugee women to speak up and participate in the society. The projects also encouraged young artist groups to build creative Internet platform to distribute equality messages…..The participants have been working really hard! You can click here to read more about the projects.

Change is Happening Now!

Under our continuous effort, HER Fund's grant projects are bringing changes to different sectors of the society, freeing marginalized women from discrimination, poverty and violence so they can actively participate in civil society.

Refugee Women: We Are Also Active Members of the Community! Refugee women in Hong Kong always live under the poverty line. Because the law prohibits them to work, they can only rely on basic humanitarian assistance. In addition, lacking family and community support, they often feel extremely isolated. The project " Voices for Protection: Refugee Women’s Empowerment Programme for Lasting Change" trained 16 refugee women on topics about human rights, initiating process, public specking and Hong Kong politics, etc. The women also interacted with local civil communities to improve their knowledge about refugee rights and how to protect themselves. The picture on the right side is about their training courses. Grantee Partner: JUSTICE CENTRE HONG KONG     Sex Workers: Eliminate Prejudges towards Sex to Defeat Violence “Sex” is usually seen as taboo and stigma in society. Therefore, sex workers have to face lots of prejudges and pressure. Some of them choose to hide themselves. So when they face abuse of power or violence, they become more vulnerable. Funded project "You, Me, and Her under the Same Sky" provided opportunities such as guided tours, for participants to directly communicate with sex workers in order to understand the workers' situations and viewpoints to remove misunderstandings and discrimination. The project also initiated equality and respect towards the marginalized communities. "Inside or Outside the Door, We Are Living in the Same World". The picture on the right side shows the volunteer recruitment poster of this project. Grantee Partner: JJJ Association   District Council Budget Needs to Consider Different Genders’ Needs! Funded project "From Social Participation to Alleviation of Poverty" started from the Shamshuipao District Council to strive for a budget to address both women's and men's needs and allocate resource to tackle women's poverty. Last year after the District Council Election, the project conducted a "Hong Kong District Council Funding and Gender Budget Survey". The survey reflected that although each of the 18 District Councils had appointed a District Councilor as the Gender Focal Point to facilitate gender equality, the position was useless. Moreover, the funding process of the District Council is not open to the public which doesn't help to enforce gender equality polices. The press conference of the survey attracted lots of media coverage. In the future, the project will continue to fight for the establishment of the function and real power of the Gender Focal Point. Please click here to read the news about the press conference. Grantee Partner: The Association for the Advancement of Feminism   Building a Gay and Lesbian Friendly Church Together Because of their sexual orientation and sexual identities, sexual minorities are always ignored and discriminated in our society. Some of them are also suppressed in the aspect of religious beliefs. Funded project "Embrace Varieties: Build a Rainbow Friendly Community Together" carried out some community educational work, including photo exhibitions, distributing booklets and training courses, etc. This project helped people from the community and church to understand sexual minorities in order to eliminate discrimination and build a caring and friendly society. From January to March, the project offered the "Queer, Love, Religious Beliefs Exploration for Sexual Minorities Course" which attracted 18 sexual minority Christians to participate. The picture on the right side is the poster of the course. Grantee Partner: Queer Theology Academy Young Women: Speak up for Sexual and Reproductive Rights Last year at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the "Youth Voice-Young Women Empowerment Project” held the first Hong Kong Youth Sexual and Reproductive Rights Conference and Sexual Education Exhibition to educate young people about sexual knowledge and rights. This project helped young women to have more independency and self-protection. Young parents were invited to express their thoughts and feelings through drama. There were also discussions about young women abortion, interactive sexual education booths to display positive menstrual products, experience of pregnant feelings, and condemn making workshop, etc. Grantee Partner: Teen's Key     Migrant Domestics Workers: Show Our True Stories At the end of last year, the "Behind the Concrete Walls: Images of Women Migrants" project displayed photo exhibitions to show true stories about migrant domestic workers living in shelters. From the beginning of this year, the project has continued the photo exhibitions and conferences to introduce the workers' lives to university and college students, the church, and other local communities to stimulate understanding and support. Grantee Partner: Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge Limited Nepalese Domestic Workers: Union is Power! When talking about migrant domestic workers, we usually think about Filipinos and Indonesians. But actually there are also some Nepalese domestic workers in Hong Kong. Their situations are more hidden. Last year Bindu, the vice-chairperson of the Union of Nepalese Domestic Workers in Hong Kong joined a union leadership course funded by HER Fund. In this video, she is confidently introducing Nepalese domestic workers' lives in Hong Kong. Grantee Partner: Union of Nepalese Domestic Workers in Hong Kong   Working & Breastfeeding Mothers: Support Each Other, Change the Culture A lot of breastfeeding mothers face various difficulties when continue to breastfeed after returning to work: they need to readjust to working status, to get balance from work and breastfeeding. It is even more difficult if their colleagues and supervisors are not considerate to their needs. The "Support Breastfeeding Mothers at Workplace Project" conducted a survey from June last year and collected more than 1000 replies. The project discovered that more than 80% of the companies didn't have breastfeeding friendly policies. In the future, a booklet called "Working & Breastfeeding Mothers' Tips" will be published to promote breastfeeding friendly workplace and proper protection for the mothers. At the end of last year, the project distributed desk calendars about breastfeeding mothers to promote anti-discrimination message. Grantee Partner: Hong Kong Breastfeeding Mothers' Association