Teen’s Key: Unlocking the Future for Hong Kong’s Vulnerable Young Women

Published:July 27, 2023 | Community 社群, TRIBE

Hong Kong has a problem when it comes to vulnerable young women. According to recent research, of the 5,400 crisis pregnancies that occur here each year (at a conservative estimate), the majority happen amongst single women younger than 25 years old. In many cases, these women come from disadvantaged backgrounds that force them to work in sexually exploitative jobs to earn money for themselves and their families – a scenario that has become more common thanks to COVID-related job losses. And due to a still prevalent stigma towards young unwed mothers in Hong Kong, many are reluctant to reach out for help during their pregnancies and struggle to build lives and careers afterwards.

While Hong Kong does not necessarily lack for organisations that help vulnerable young mothers, most only focus on a narrow range of issues like adoption or family planning, and only offer one-off services. But to really help these women requires a more holistic, long-term approach that not only supports them through their pregnancies, but also offers them a way out of the desperate situations that led to their pregnancies.

That is where Teen’s Key comes in.

Founded in 2011, Teen’s Key is a women-led non-profit organisation that provides vulnerable young women (particularly young mothers) with the type of holistic support they would otherwise struggle to find. Working with women and girls between the ages of 11-30 in 18 districts across Hong Kong, it offers three general services pertaining to their reproductive, psychological and financial wellbeing.

1. Prevention and Intervention

As well as poverty, one of the underpinning factors behind many crisis pregnancies in Hong Kong is a lack of sexual knowledge amongst young people. At present, sex education is not a compulsory part of the Hong Kong curriculum and the official sex education material that does exist hasn’t been updated since 1997. As a result, a shocking 2016 survey found that 40% of Hong Kongers aged 12-24 lacked a proper understanding of sex and 44% admitted to not using birth control. Combined with the popularity of dating apps, all of this leaves them vulnerable to misinformation, exploitation and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

“It easily leads to sexual abuse cases when [girls] don’t know how to say ‘no’, or they don’t know how to set the intimacy boundary. Then they have sex unsafely and become pregnant” says Rachel Chow, Head of Resources Development for Teen’s Key.

To prevent crisis pregnancies before they occur, Teen’s Key’s provides prevention education programmes online, in schools and at its service hub in Jordan, with the help of certified sex educators. As well as an up-to-date sex education curriculum, these programmes also provide women with tips on safe sexual behaviours, on consent, intimacy and safe online dating practices. Those with further questions and concerns can also reach out via Teen’s Key’s 24-hour emergency helpline.

More proactively, Teen’s Key’s frontline workers also conduct weekly on-site outreach at nightclubs in Jordan and Yau Ma Tai, offering vulnerable women working in these places tips on safe sex, as well as health checks and anonymous STD testing.

2. Welcome and Support

Of course, Teen’s Key can’t prevent every vulnerable young woman in Hong Kong from getting pregnant. So for those that do, its service hub doubles as a drop-in safe space where they can seek help. According to Chow, having a centralised platform to seek help and advice from is a huge relief to these women during an otherwise difficult time.

“They seldom talk to their parents because they feel shame about it. In Hong Kong, it’s still a taboo thing” she explains. “So they go online to look for resources and if there is no centralised platform, it is a headache for them since they are already panicked, but they can’t really figure out which platform is good for them, so they can’t access support.”

One of the most helpful things Teen’s Key offers for pregnant young women is a chance to discuss their predicament in a non-judgemental environment. This can take the form of one-on-one personal counselling sessions to help these women to understand their options going forward, as well as offer them health and legal guidance if necessary. Since 2016, Teen’s Key has also been running its Young Mother’s Club, a mutual self-help group in which young mothers can gather once a month (on-site or online) to meet, advise and support each other.

For many of these women, who often come from stressful, unsupportive or even unsafe backgrounds, having a supportive environment to turn to during their pregnancy and early child-rearing days can be an invaluable lifeline. Some even go on to become ambassadors for Teen’s Key, sharing their experiences with their peers in order to educate them about their options as a young mother.

“We have very good and trustful relationships with our girls and our ex-girls can also come back as volunteers and help those at risk or in need” says Chow.

3. Learn and Influence

Supporting young mothers through their pregnancy is one thing, but Teen’s Key is one of the few women’s charities in Hong Kong to offer them much support afterwards, helping them to build a future and a career for themselves through its life enrichment programme.

“We really want to provide a safe platform to engage girls so that they can explore their potential and then find their own keys to explore their new beginnings” says Chow.

The main feature of the programme is the self-development and exploration workshops at Teens Key’s Jordan hub. Tailor-made for each individual, these serve to educate young women about the options they have for moving forward, focusing particularly on career exploration. For instance, a recent workshop saw several participants learning about running their own baked goods businesses. Teens Key also offers childcare services during the workshops so that mothers can attend in person without having to worry about leaving their children at home, and offers online workshops for those who really can’t come to the hub.

In more recent years, Teens Key has launched a financial literacy programme to provide young women with essential planning and vocational skills to help them gain financial independence. In the wake of the economic shock of COVID, it has also been providing direct financial support to struggling families: a much needed lifeline during a pandemic that has driven more people (especially women) into poverty in Hong Kong.

Impact

In the 12 years since its founding, it’s safe to say that Teens Key has been an invaluable ally for Hong Kong’s vulnerable young women, having helped over 13,000 of them through its various support and education programmes. Of particular note is the impressive 85% success rate of Teens Key’s Life Enrichment programme, with many participants going on to form rewarding careers afterwards.

“Normally, our girls are able to identify their own path and life journey and then head out into the community again after three to four years” says Chow, although she notes that some are able to do so in half that time.

In Chow’s view, what really underpins these achievements is the confidence that Teens Key inspires in young women, many of whom are afraid to even reach out for help at the start. By the end however, those same women have a much better understanding of boundaries and safe sex, can talk much more freely about their experiences, and may even have better relationships with their families than they did before. Crucially, their time with Teens Key helps to dispel the myth that young mothers don’t deserve second chances and can only ever be carers for the rest of their lives.

“That is the core value we want to embrace with our young women. No matter their background or their family ties, the most important thing is how they define themselves” she says. “Even though they are from vulnerable background, all our young women still have rights and opportunities.”

Of course, convincing Hong Kong society at large to drop its deep-seated prejudices towards vulnerable young women is a much bigger challenge, with even some law enforcement officials treating them with judgement and abuse. Nevertheless, it is one that Teen’s Key is intent on taking on. As of last year, it has also hosting a public exhibition called ‘I’m Okay?’, in which women who they work with are encouraged to share their stories through music and the public is encouraged to listen with a non-judgemental attitude.

“We really need to promote the mentality is that we need to find a safe space so that we can engage more vulnerable young women […] and they can really express themselves freely” says Chow. “What we want to share is the idea of listen, don’t judge.”

Before you go:

Teen’s Key will be the SDG5 Gender Equality NGO partner at this year’s Hong Kong Streetathon on December 16-17. To ensure a successful event, Teen’s Key is seeking skilled corporate volunteers who can advise on marketing, IT & fundraise strategy, including how to leverage the event and find potential ambassadors to showcase the resilience stories of its girls and encourage people to fundraise for them. Additionally, any connections who may be interested in supporting/sponsoring Teen’s Key’s upcoming women empowerment/ social inclusion events would be greatly appreciated too.

Feel free to reach out via rachelchow@teenskey.org or +6160 0912 for more details.

Written exclusively for WELL, Magazine Asia by Thomas Gomersall