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Singapore Government

Child Abuse Investigations

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Child Abuse Investigations

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child abuse & protection

 Child Protection

Since 2015, MSF has introduced more rigorous screening tools and training for professionals such as social workers, educators, counsellors and health professionals. This has helped to sharpen their ability to pick up safety concerns for a child and seek the appropriate intervention. These include supporting the children and families with community-based help such as Family Service Centres (FSCs) or Child Protection Specialist Centres (CPSCs), or referring serious cases of harm to MSF’s Child Protective Service (CPS) for intervention. MSF has also stepped up public education efforts on child protection and family violence over the years, which helped in uncovering more cases of concerns.

In Feb 2021, MSF officially launched the National Anti-Violence Helpline (NAVH) for the reporting of family violence, abuse and neglect. The NAVH operates 24/7. Members of the public can contact the helpline at 1800-777-0000 to report suspected cases of abuse or make general enquiries.

The increase in number of enquiries received in 2021 was mainly due to members of the public being more aware of family violence and calling the NAVH, as MSF stepped up publicity efforts following the launch of NAVH. These calls include general enquiries that may not involve actual incidences of violence. The increase in the number of cases investigated by MSF CPS in 2021 was in tandem with the increase in enquiries; and this was mainly due to the increased number of referrals from MSF CPS’s partners in the community.

Table 1: Number of Enquiries Received by MSF CPS, by Year

Year 2016 2017  2018  2019  2020  2021 
Number of Enquiries Received by MSF CPS  3,035 3,344  3,232 3,840 5,223 6,513

 

The number of cases investigated by CPS increased from 2020 to 2021. The increase was mainly due to increased number of referrals from CPS’s partners in the community such as Family Service Centres, schools and Child Protection Specialist Centres.

Table 2: Number of Child Protection Investigations by MSF CPS, by Year and Type of Abuse

Types of Abuse 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016  2017  2018  2019 2020  2021
Physical Abuse 177 148 161 263  444   373   584 660 677  788 
Sexual Abuse 70 60 56 82  107  181 248  210  261  443
Neglect 136 135 164 206  322  340  331 218  375  910
Total 383 343 381 551  873  894  1,163 1,088 1,313 2,141


Chart 1: Number of Child Protection Investigations by MSF CPS, by Year and Type of Abuse

 

Dataset (CSV): https://data.gov.sg/dataset/child-protection

Statistics last updated on 11 Apr 2022.

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