Chinese women who use force against husbands in Hong Kong: their help seeking experience and implication on service development

ABSTRACT Many women who use force (WuF) against their husbands are driven by their emotions towards husbands’ physical abuse, coercive control or neglect. Despite the ongoing development and expansion of support for domestic violence in Hong Kong, the number of WuFs against their husbands has been increasing, indicating a gap between service availability and women’s participation in these services. This study aims to further our understanding of WuF’s motivating factors in seeking help from an anti-violence programme service by interviewing 20 participants of the programme. Our observation would enhance our understanding of this target group and provide us more insight in pinpointing the service contents and the corresponding promotion elements that will tally with WuF’s needs for emotional support and education about women using force and mutual violence in an intimate relationship.