在透過城市空間介入性別不平等議題的進程中，香港的進展又如何？｜How is Hong Kong’s progress in addressing spatialised gender inequality?
在本月的吉人吉事，我們聚焦探討性別及空間議題，除了邀請各位嘗試在日常生活中的各種空間内「看見」性別議題，亦進一步深入剖析了性別化空間的背後成因，並從波哥大及維也納兩大城市在推動性別主流化的案例中，探討以空間介入性別不平等議題的不同可能性。事實上，隨著社會大衆日漸關注性別及空間議題，香港的城市空間亦開始逐步就此作出回應：小至個別店鋪，大至公共運動空間，都是我城性別友善空間倡議的一部分。不過， 在民間就推動性別平等的各種嘗試背後，香港整體宏觀政策又有何進展呢？又是否跟得上民間的步伐呢？就讓我們在這次的香港吉事，一同看看香港在推動性別平等的路上，可以怎樣更進一步吧。
一坪半 性／別空間、「香港性／別小眾友善店家資料庫」：何謂性／別友善店家？安全自在、被理解和有選擇
在先前兩篇吉人吉事，我們主要討論公共空間和交通， 但大家又有否想過，我們日常光顧的店鋪亦可成爲性/別友善城市的重要一環？有別於一般的獨立書店，位於觀塘的一坪半是一個「性／別空間」，顧客不止能在店内閲覽與性別有關的書籍，亦可自由決定使用方式，例如休息、思考、創作等等，甚至是與店員傾談。 基於自身經歷，三位店主都深明性／別小衆群體，難以被社會和身邊人理解，因而情緒上或會感到壓抑，所以他們希望爲「自己人」社群提供一個安全、舒適、可以毫無顧慮地「做自己」的治癒空間。除此以外，一坪半亦有透過不同方式和公衆探討性別議題，例如製作Podcast、定期舉辦講座和讀書會等活動以及出版刊物。不過，單有一坪半這類專屬空間仍遠遠不足，畢竟無論任何性別，大家出門時都應該被尊重，亦值得有選擇。正因如此，本地性／別小眾媒體G點電視就在去年8月推出了「香港性／別小眾友善店家資料庫」。截止今年4月，已有128間店鋪參與，當中更包括沒有實體門店的網店。用家能夠透過行業和地區等條件，簡單篩選合適店鋪，而在每一家店鋪的簡介中，亦有列明該店鋪實踐性／別小眾友善的方式，例如有為員工提供性／別小眾友善的服務培訓或日常指導、歡迎性／別小眾顧客光顧，並確保顧客不會因性/別身份遭到差別待遇等。
「公園女遊」、「明德主場」：連結公園及運動空間的女性使用者，正視她們的需要
與此同時，香港亦有項目關注年輕女性的公共空間體驗，分別為「公園女遊」和「明德主場」。前者源自於一位中文大學畢業生的論文，由自身觀察出發，探討18-24歲的年輕女性對公共空間卻步背後的種種原因。除了深入分析不同公園的空間特質，她亦從問卷調查中發現兩性對公共空間有著截然不同的著重點——男生重視公共空間的活動選擇，而女生則重視安全感；而「男性凝視」(Male Gaze) 所帶來的不自在感亦是女生不願獨自到訪公共空間的原因之一。及後，「公園女遊」亦有舉行展覽及沙龍等活動，以及出版小誌等，邀請大衆一同構想更符合年輕女性使用者的公共空間。而「明德主場」則為一口設計工作室 (One Bite Design Studio) 夥拍基滙資本所推出的全港首個以女性友善為主題的特色運動場。有別於一般的公共運動空間，項目團隊由起初的設計過程到落成後的營運安排都充分考慮到女性使用者的需要。深知女性在使用「街場」等公共運動空間時常遇到男性主導的問題，項目團隊在設計過程中便參考了女性運動員的意見，在運動場增設了鏡子及掛鈎等方便女性使用者的設施。而在場地的營運和管理上，亦計劃推行女性優先運動時段。
性別主流化推行22載，進展如何？
以上例子不止反映社會大衆日漸提升的性別平權意識，亦展現了從空間介入性別議題的不同可能性——無論是作爲消費者的你和我、設計師、空間營運及管理者，都可以在改善不同性別人士的空間體驗上出一份力。然而，香港若要更進一步，在整體城市空間規劃和設計上都加入性別考量，就必須配合宏觀政策。
事實上，香港政府自1996年起就開始進行消除婦女歧視的工作，並在2001年成立婦女事務委員會（婦委會），以其為推動性別主流化的主要機構。成立至今共22年，婦委會主要透過以下工作，在不同政府部門及界別間推動性別主流化：
而自2015-2016年度開始，所有決策局及部門在制定主要政府政策及措施時亦須參考「清單」及應用性別主流化（詳見《二零一五年施政報告》）。然而，正如平等機會婦女聯席在2017年出版的《性別主流化在香港的實踐 研究及檢討報告》所述，礙於制度、架構及資源等因素所限，婦委會對推動整體政策上實踐性別主流化的影響力其實相當有限。
只關注育嬰間、母乳餵哺空間和公廁等城市空間？
至於政府在城市規劃、設計及設施提供上的表現，單看性別主流化主題網頁上的經驗分享個案就能略知一二——絕大部分案例均圍繞著育嬰間及母乳餵哺空間的供應及設計，以及調整男女洗手間廁格數量比例，但就未有任何與性/別小衆群體相關的案例。雖然少數案例亦曾提及當時曾進行實地考察、訪問及討論小組，但規模似乎相當有限，亦未必是上述部門常規決策過程的一部分。加上未有當時的完整調查報告，難以得知各部門在推展不同類型、規模的項目，又或是政策時，是否有一套統一機制，確保充分考慮到不同性別觀點和進行性別影響評估。與此同時，本港現行的規劃制度亦未如海外各地般，將性別因素納入在整體空間規劃框架之中，尤其缺乏針對街道設計、康樂及休憩空間等的性別主流化指引。與其他設有專門推動及統籌性別主流化的專職部門的海外城市相比，例如上一篇的所提到的維也納，香港似乎仍有好一段遠路要走。
在邁向真正性別友善的城市的路途上，何不與民同行？
誠然，香港在整體政策層面上仍有不少進步空間，而與民間的步伐相比，更顯得落後。但既然社會大衆都認爲推動性別主流化已是勢在必行，何不趁這機會，重新審視現行制度，與民間社會深入交流，共同推進性別主流化呢？期望透過這系列的吉人吉事，為大家帶來審視城市空間的新角度，並提出一些從空間切入性別議題的方法，望能在邁向真正性別友善的城市的路途上出一份力。
How is Hong Kong’s progress in addressing spatialised gender inequality?
In this month’s GUTS, we focus on the issue of gender and urban space.Not only did we invite you to “see” gender in different urban spaces, but we also examined the root causes of spatialised gender inequality. With reference to Bogota and Vienna’s achievements in gender mainstreaming, we also explored the potentials of addressing gender inequality through urban spaces. In fact, with increasing awareness on gender and spatial issues, Hong Kong’s urban spaces are gradually adapting: from individual shops to public active spaces, they all represent a part of our city’s efforts and initiatives in advocating gender-friendly space. But what is the progress of Hong Kong’s overall policy behind the various attempts to promote gender equality in the community? Can it keep pace with the development in the community? In this month’s GUTS, we invite you to take a look at how Hong Kong can go further in promoting the values of gender equality on this road of advocacy.
ONEBOOKHALF Gender Safe Space, and the "Hong Kong LGBT+ Friendly Shops Database'' led by G Dot TV: What is a gender-friendly shop? Safe and comfortable space with mutual understanding and choices
In the last two articles, we focused on public space and transportation. But has it ever occurred to you that the shops we visit every day can be an essential part of constructing a gender-friendly city? Unlike other independent bookstores, ONEBOOKHALF in Kwun Tong is a “gender-safe space” where customers can not only browse through gender-related books, but also freely decide on how to use the space, such as resting, thinking, creating, or even have a fruitful chat with the staff. Based on their own experiences, the three owners noted that the society often fails to understand gender and sexual minorities, leaving them emotionally repressed. So, the owners wished to provide a safe, comfortable and healing space, where gender and sexual minorities can genuinely “be themselves” without feeling a hint of fear. Apart from this, ONEBOOKHALF also explores gender issues with the public in various ways, such as producing podcasts, organising regular talks and reading sessions, and publishing publications. However, a dedicated space like ONEBOOKHALF is still far from adequate, as we all deserve to be respected and have choices, regardless of sex or gender. For this reason, G Dot TV, a local LGBT+ media, launched the "Hong Kong LGBT+ Friendly Shops Database" in August last year. As of April this year, 128 shops have participated in the database, including online shops. Users are able to simply select the shops suitable for them by filtering the industry and location, and each shop's profile also states the shops’ LGBT+ friendly practices, such as offering LGBT+ friendly training or daily coaching to staff, welcoming customers of different sexual orientations and genders, and ensuring that customers are not treated differently due to their sexual orientations and genders.
"Park Flâneuse" and Ming Tak Sports Court: connect with women in parks and active spaces and address their needs
At the same time, there are also projects in Hong Kong that focus on young women's experience in public space, namely “Park Flâneuse” and “Ming Tak Sports Court”. The former is based on the thesis of a graduate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which explored the reasons behind young women's (aged 18-24) reluctance to use public spaces. In addition to analysing the spatial characteristics of a vast array of parks, she also found from the questionnaire that the two sexes value different attributes of public spaces – male users value activity choices in public space, while female users value the sense of security in these spaces. The uneasy and disturbing feeling arising from “male gaze” is also one of the reasons why girls are reluctant to visit public spaces by themselves. That aside, Park Flâneuse also organised exhibitions and events like salons, and published zines. They invited the public to conceptualise a public space more suitable for young female users. As for Ming Tak Sports Court, it is the first women-friendly sports ground in Hong Kong created by One Bite Design Studio and Gaw Capital. Different from other public sports spaces, the project team has taken the needs of female users into account and incorporated them into different stages of the project, starting from the initial design process to its operation. Noting that women often face the issue of male-dominance in public active spaces, such as public basketball courts known as “street courts”, the project team has consulted female athletes during the design process and has provided additional facilities such as mirrors and hooks to cater the needs of female users, making it more convenient to use the space. In terms of the Sports Court’s operation and management, there are also plans to allocate priority time-slots for women.
How is Hong Kong’s gender mainstreaming progress in its 22 years of implementation?
The above examples not only exemplified the growing awareness of gender equality in society, but also demonstrated the potentials to address gender inequality through urban spaces – you and I as consumers, designers, space operators and managers, can all play a part in improving the spatial experiences of people of different genders. However, if Hong Kong is to go further and integrate gender considerations into the overall planning and design of urban spaces, it must be done in concert with supporting policies.
In fact, the Hong Kong Government has been working to eliminate discrimination against women since 1996 and has established the Women's Commission (WoC) in 2001 as the main body to promote gender mainstreaming. In the 22 years since its establishment, the WoC has been promoting gender mainstreaming in different government departments and sectors through the following initiatives:
Launching the Gender Mainstreaming Checklist (The Checklist)
Since 2015-2016, all Government bureaux and departments are required to refer to the Checklist and apply gender mainstreaming in the formulating major government policies and initiatives (see the 2015 Policy Address for more details). However, as stated in the "Review on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in Hong Kong" published by the Women's Coalition for Equal Opportunities in 2017, due to institutional, structural and resource constraints, WoC influence in advocating gender mainstreaming in the overall policy is actually rather limited.
Only concerned with urban spaces such as baby-sitting rooms, breastfeeding spaces and public toilets?
One can get a glimpse of the Hong Kong Government's performance in urban planning, design and provision of facilities by simply looking at the experience-sharing cases on their Gender Mainstreaming webpage – most of the cases focus on the provision and design of babycare and breastfeeding spaces, as well as the ratio of toilet cubicles for men and women, but there were no cases on addressing the needs of sex and gender minorities. Although site visits, interviews and discussion groups had been conducted for some of the cases, these seemed to be done on a limited scale, which might not be part of the regular decision-making process of the departments. Besides, without a full survey report, it is difficult to grasp whether there is a standardised mechanism to ensure gender perspectives are taken into account and gender impact assessments are conducted in the implementation of projects of different types and scales, or in the implementation of policies. At the same time, the current planning system in Hong Kong does not incorporate gender considerations into the overall spatial planning framework as is the case overseas. In particular, there is a lack of gender mainstreaming guidelines for street design, recreation and open space. Compared to other cities with specialised departments on the promotion and coordination of gender mainstreaming, such as Vienna mentioned in the previous article, Hong Kong seems to have a long way to go.
Why not walk with the community on the road to a genuinely gender-friendly city?
Indeed, Hong Kong still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of the overall policy, and is lagging behind in comparison to the pace of the community. However, as it is almost consensual that gender mainstreaming is of crucial importance in our society, why don’t we take this opportunity to examine the current system and engage with the community? Through this series of GUTS articles, we hope to put forward a new perspective to look at our urban space and suggest different ways to approach gender inequality from a spatial perspective. Hopefully, it would contribute to the journey towards a truly gender-friendly city.
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