Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung has pledged to combat domestic violence by providing dedicated preventive and supportive services to victims and families in need.

Addressing Harmony House's 23rd annual general meeting today, Mr Cheung said $1.58 billion has been allocated to help these victims and their families this financial year, up 12.8% on 2007-08 and accounting for 4.6% of the Social Welfare Department's total spending.

He said direct services will be bolstered in the coming year by increasing the manpower of family and child protective services and clinical psychology units, enhancing the batterer intervention programme, and upgrading support refuge and crisis centres provide to those in need.

"We will, in particular, increase the number of social workers at the four refuge centres for women, strengthen supervision of and support for frontline staff, and speed up the processing of admission applications," he said.

Mr Cheung said the amended Domestic Violence Ordinance is effective, noting since it was expanded in August to cover molestation by former spouses and cohabitants and family members, injunction orders granted by the courts have risen from only 13 in the first seven months, to seven in the two months after implementation.

The court, in granting non-molestation orders, can require the abusers to attend anti-violence programmes to help them change their attitude and behaviour, he added.

An extra $1.2 million has been allocated to fund a 24-hour financial crisis emotional support hotline to provide counselling service for people with emotional and family problems arising from the recent global financial turmoil.