Dignity for the most vulnerable among us,
is dignity for all of us.
Hong Kong’s most vulnerable individuals fight trauma away from the public eye. We find them, restore dignity to them, and work tirelessly to fix the broken systems that perpetuate these abuses.
Restoring Dignity
Through HKDI’s integrated interdisciplinary services, our clients receive qualified legal counsel and representation, and the mental health support they need to understand the trauma that underpins their situation. Our expert team collaborates across disciplines to understand each client’s needs and develop a care and action plan tailored to provide recourse at one time, in one place.
Bringing Change
Beyond assisting individuals, we endeavour to spark reforms of systems which perpetuate cycles of exploitation and exacerbate trauma. For instance, to reach and assist all 65,000 modern slaves in Hong Kong, we conduct extensive research and investigation, then share our findings through meetings and trainings with law enforcement, policy-makers and legislators of the systemic constructs which enable traffickers to thrive.
The vulnerable population in Hong Kong deserve the best the professional world can offer and we will offer no less.
Our Focus Areas
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Human Trafficking
We provide individualised and integrated legal and psychosocial support to clients by examining needs holistically with a lens on the operating environment.
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Refugees
We identify the hidden factors of exploitation by mapping the interactions between criminal activity, systemic marginalisation, and traumatisation.
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Persons Fighting Mental Illnesses
We work closely with civil society, government departments, and other experts in the field to serve as a hub for training, coordination and collective advocacy.
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Other Discrimination
We collaborate with academic institutions to provide experiential learning opportunities to students whose work feed into the other three arms of our services.
Solomon’s Story
Solomon grew up in a small village in Nigeria. Before he was born, his father got into a land dispute with neighbouring villagers, who later killed Solomon’s mother and four of his siblings. One night, Solomon was brutally attacked with metal objects, to the point that he was hospitalised for five months, with a three-year paralysis on the left side of his body.
In 2010, Solomon fled to Hong Kong, where he met his wife Dora, a local Hong Kong resident. Together they are raising four young children, all under four years of age. Unfortunately, their children need extensive medical care, for a host of congenital and acute conditions. On top of their plight, Solomon’s dependent visa application was rejected, and if Solomon’s non-refoulement claim does not succeed at the final stage of the legal proceedings, he would be forced to separate from his family.
Since coming to HKDI, we have assisted him in gathering new evidence (such as medical records of his attack) and collaborated with a partner law firm to lodge a subsequent claim. HKDI also provides counselling services for Dora and Solomon. Solomon’s case shows the difficulties faced by asylum seekers who have families in Hong Kong, and the strenuous task of having to succeed in being granted protection in Hong Kong.
Since our launch in 2019
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from 38 countries have sought our support services
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have been provided incorporating quality legal counsel and mental health support
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have been held engaging government actors, NGOs, and universities
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have received our interdisciplinary training, including lawyers, NGO practitioners, policymakers, government actors and foreign domestic workers
Our Story
The Hong Kong Dignity Institute was founded in 2019 by public interest lawyer Patricia Ho. After championing social justice for marginalised populations for over 13 years, Patricia was tired of seeing her clients get lost in complex systems, all while bearing the weight of the abuse they had been victims of.
Through conversations with her clients and professionals from other disciplines in the field, the idea for Dignity Institute bloomed: a place that would provide holistic support for the most vulnerable in Hong Kong — while addressing deeper systemic problems. After 17 years of working in the public interest space in Hong Kong, Patricia remains fiercely hopeful that change is possible. With you, we bring about that change one client at a time, one day at a time.
Notable Work Updates
Counsellor Alli Ruttger prepared our counselling best practice manual
This manual sets out counsellor’s roles and responsibilities; background knowledge of specific causes and forms of trauma faced by our clients; key skills required for our work; suicide response and prevention; self-care and work sustainability; as well as referrals and community resources.
HKDI delivers training “Understanding How to Help Friends & Families Experiencing Forced Marriage or Domestic Violence”
On 5 July 2023, together with Withers law firm, we delivered a two hour workshop for clients, civil-society actors, researchers and lawyers to equip the group with tools to tackle forced marriage in Hong Kong.
Publication of “Traffickers and Victims: Opposite sides of the same coin?” in the Anti-Trafficking Review
Drawing from first-hand testimonials of over 30 individuals we have assisted since 2019 and insight from our civil society partners, in this article, we outline our observations of traffickers and their modus operandi in three prevalent trafficking scenarios in Hong Kong.
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Our experience suggests that trafficking networks are composed of a complex and fluid interplay of actors with blurred emotional lines between the traffickers and victims. We conclude that anti-trafficking efforts in Hong Kong are hampered by difficulties in identifying traffickers given the elusive nature of their activities.
Shop the Dignity Store
Shop our freshly stocked store for intricate ornaments and dolls crafted by refugees living in displacement throughout the world. Sales from our store enable refugees to contribute to their host country’s economy and strengthen their ties with local society. Your purchase also represents an unmistakable act of solidarity with refugees and an appreciation for the power of the human spirit.