Greater Awareness and Early Intervention Helped To Reduce Serious Domestic Violence Cases

           The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has released its inaugural Domestic Violence Trends Report. The report highlights key trends in child abuse, spousal abuse, elder and Vulnerable Adult abuse, and cases where Vulnerable Adults neglected themselves. ¹ These are based on cases overseen by community agencies (i.e. Tier 1 cases of low to moderate safety and risk concerns),² and those overseen by MSF’s Child Protective Service and Adult Protective Service (i.e. Tier 2 cases of high safety and risk concerns which require statutory intervention).

2.         Domestic violence is a multi-faceted issue. There is a complex interplay of factors including socioeconomic conditions, cultural norms, family dynamics, capabilities and responsiveness of social services, and changes in public awareness. There have been efforts to raise public awareness of the issue and channels for reporting. These could have influenced the overall number of reported cases.

Decline in cases with high safety and risk concerns

3.         From 2021 to 2023, the number of new Tier 2 cases decreased. However, the number of new Tier 1 cases increased, suggesting greater awareness and willingness by survivors and the public to report abuse and seek help early. Early reporting could have helped prevent cases from escalating in risk severity. The key trends are as follows:

a. Child abuse. The number of new Tier 1 child abuse cases showed an upward trend, from 2,377 cases in 2021 to 2,787 cases in 2023. Through the efforts by MSF and our partners to increase awareness and encourage reporting of child abuse, more cases were reported and attended to early by community agencies. The number of new Tier 2 child abuse cases saw a slight decline, from 2,141 cases in 2021 to 2,011 cases in 2023.

b. Spousal abuse. There was an upward trend in the number of new Tier 1 spousal abuse cases, from 1,632 cases in 2021 to 2,008 cases in 2023. This could be the result of ongoing efforts to raise awareness about domestic violence and for survivors and perpetrators to get help as part of the progressive implementation of the recommendations by the Taskforce on Family Violence.³ The Government will continue to work with community agencies to support survivors and perpetrators, and facilitate family reconciliation, where possible.

c. Elder abuse and elderly Vulnerable Adult abuse. There was a slight upward trend in the number of new Tier 1 elder abuse cases, from 283 cases in 2021 to 297 cases in 2023. This could reflect the increased efforts by eldercare and healthcare agencies in detecting and referring cases to community agencies. Through early intervention and attending to early signs of distress faced by elderly and their families (e.g. provision of support to caregivers), risk level of cases was de-escalated. Hence, the number of new Tier 2 cases dropped, from 84 in 2021 to 42 in 2023.

d. Non-elderly Vulnerable Adult abuse. The number of new Tier 2 non-elderly Vulnerable Adult cases fell by almost half, from 42 cases in 2021 to 23 cases in 2023.

e. Self-neglect by Vulnerable Adults. The number of new Tier 2 self-neglect Vulnerable Adult cases fell by almost half in 2023, from 48 cases in 2022 to 28 cases in 2023.

4.         The full report can be found at: https://go.gov.sg/msfdvreport2024.

Partnership between the Government and community partners to tackle domestic violence

5.         Strong and stable families are the bedrock of our society. Everyone should feel safe and supported by their family members. Domestic violence offends our fundamental values as a society and must not be condoned. The Government has been working closely with community partners to put in place legal protection and comprehensive social service support, and invest in public education and training to tackle domestic violence. Since 2021, the Taskforce’s recommendations have been progressively implemented, along with other enhancements to strengthen the protection ecosystem to support families. These include:

a. Increasing public awareness: This year’s refreshed Break the Silence campaign, launched on 15 June 2024, highlights that domestic violence is not a private matter and encourages survivors and community to play their part to help detect domestic violence. As of July 2024, more than 9,300 people in various sectors had undergone the Domestic Violence Awareness Training to learn how to spot and report signs of domestic violence. Professionals from childcare centres, schools and educational institutions have also participated in these training sessions.

b. Making it easier to report violence: The National Anti-Violence & Sexual Harassment Helpline (NAVH) was enhanced in 2022 with an online reporting form. In June 2024, a module on reporting suspected child abuse cases was included in LifeSG, the integrated government e-services mobile application.

c. Strengthening operational protocols and improving services: Forensic-trained psychologists have been deployed to the Protection Specialist Centres since September 2022. The Police also set up the Sexual Crime and Family Violence Command in April 2023 for better oversight of the management of sexual crime and family violence cases. MSF has also enhanced our protocols with community agencies supporting families with child protection concerns, including regular safety checks and monitoring of the children and their families. For example, they are now visited by case workers at least once a month for up to a year after the children are reunified with their families, to ensure their overall well-being. If parents refuse to engage with these community agencies, MSF will intervene and, if necessary, invoke statutory powers to ensure that case workers have access to these children.

d. Enhancing legal protection of survivors: The Family Violence (Amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament in July 2023 to strengthen protection for survivors of family violence and enhance rehabilitation and accountability of perpetrators of family violence. MSF is also working towards enacting a Domestic Violence Act, to extend protection for persons in intimate non-familial relationships.

Nationwide roll out of the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT)

6.         The DVERT was launched in April 2023 to implement the Taskforce’s recommendation to provide 24/7 emergency response for high-risk domestic violence cases with immediate safety concerns. From April 2023 to July 2024, the DVERT responded to 307 cases referred by the Police. DVERT has been successfully rolled out nationwide as of 23 September 2024.

Everyone has a part to play to stop domestic violence

7.         The Government and our community partners will continue to work together to keep families safe. Community agencies are ready and equipped to support both survivors and perpetrators to address domestic violence in the home.

8.         Minister of State for Social and Family Development Ms Sun Xueling said, “The Ministry of Social and Family Development is releasing for the first time an annual Domestic Violence Trends Report. This is because we want to have a common reference point from which we can better monitor our efforts to tackle domestic violence, following the passing of new laws in 2023 to strengthen protection for survivors and enhance rehabilitation of perpetrators. The Government will continue to work closely with community partners to support survivors. The Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team has been rolled out nationwide on 23 September 2024, ensuring effective triaging and safety plans for survivors.”

_{¹ Vulnerable Adults are those aged 18 and above, and are by reason of mental or physical infirmity, disability or incapacity, incapable of protecting himself or herself from abuse, neglect or self‑neglect. 
² Community agencies refer to Child Protection Specialist Centres, Protection Specialist Centres (including the Integrated Services for Individual and Family Protection Specialist Centre) and Family Service Centres.
³ https://www.msf.gov.sg/media-room/article/Update-on-Implementation-of-Recommendations-from-the-Taskforce-on-Family-Violence}

Annex – Translation of Key Terms

TRANSLATION OF KEY TERMS