After gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1997 after 150 years of British control, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China was established. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong maintains its own government and economy from that of mainland China under the “one country, two systems” principle. The region’s constitutional document, the Basic Law, was drafted in 1990 and states, “All Hong Kong residents shall be equal before the law.” In 1995, the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) was passed prohibiting “certain kinds of sex discrimination, discrimination on the ground of marital status or pregnancy, and sexual harassment; to provide for the establishment of a Commission with the functions of working towards the elimination of such discrimination and harassment and promoting equality of opportunity between men and women generally.” The United Kingdom Government extended the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to Hong Kong in 1996. To further protect the rights of women, the region passed the Discrimination Legislation Ordinance in 2020 which amended the SDO to safeguard against sexual harassment in the workforce and prohibit the victimization of breast-feeding women. In 2017, Carrie Lam became Hong Kong’s first female head of government when she was sworn in as Chief Executive. Lam is also the Chairperson of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security. Despite the regions efforts to achieve gender equality, Hong Kong is a society with deep-rooted patriarchal values. Only 17 percent of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council members are female, and according to research by the Women’s Foundation, just 55 percent of women are in the workforce with a gender pay gap of 22 percent. Moreover, a 2021 study by the Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities found that approximately two out of five women in the region have experienced sexual violence and one in four have experienced domestic abuse. Significant work remains in order to achieve gender parity, but fortunately Hong Kong has a strong tradition of feminist organizations like the Women’s Foundation, The HK Dignity Institute, JYC Girls Impact Foundation, and the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women who are promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls across the region.

Despite women often outperforming their male counterparts on the international stage, women’s sports remain underdeveloped in Hong Kong due to gender biases and blatant misogyny toward female athletes. Professionals in the women’s sports sector receive lower wages, less media representation, and have limited access to safe sporting facilities. However, progress has been made over the past few years thanks to the success of female athletes in international competitions. At the 1984 New York Paralympic Games, eleven women represented Hong Kong in the Paralympics for the first time and brought home more than half of the country’s Paralympic medals. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Lee Lai-shan won Hong Kong’s first Olympic medal when she brought home gold in sailing. Track cyclist, Sarah Lee Wai-sze, won a bronze medal for women’s keirin at the 2012 London Olympics, and the following year won the UCI Track Cycling World Championship. Swimmer Stephanie Au Hoi-shun became the first athlete from Hong Kong to compete in four Olympics and was the region’s flag-bearer at the 2016 Rio Games. Female athletes won five of Hong Kong’s six medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games including Siobhán Haughey who became the first athlete from the region to win two Olympic medals. She is also the only athlete to hold a world record, which she obtained in 2021 in the 200 m freestyle.