Alexis Tam meets domestic violence concern groups

Cecilia Ho

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, invited the Macau Domestic Violence Legislation Coalition for a meeting yesterday afternoon. He promised to draft instructions to assist police officers in assessing domestic violence cases.
The coalition’s spokesperson, Cecilia Ho, said after the meeting that they want a safety net for domestic violence victims involved in cases that are considered “mild” by the authorities. She said that the Social Welfare Bureau director, Iong Kong Io, promised to list these cases as “suspected cases” and will analyze them afterwards.
Regarding the fact that same-sex couples were not protected by the proposed domestic violence legislation, the Coalition said that the government has an open attitude on this issue, but did not mention when they would amend the law. Before the meeting with Alexis Tam, the Coalition handed a petition to the Legislative Assembly, asking that it open the AL Standing Committee to the public when the Committee discusses the domestic violence legislation. The bill was scheduled to be debated and voted at the AL today.