SINGAPORE: Community agencies saw an increase in child abuse cases with low-moderate risk concerns between 2021 and 2023, according to a report published by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Thursday (Sep 26).
There were 2,787 such cases last year, up 17 per cent from 2,377 in 2021.
In its inaugural Domestic Violence Trends report, MSF defined tier 1 cases as those with low to moderate safety and risk concerns for the vulnerable person.
This includes cases where there is infrequent occurrence of verbal abuse, such as derogatory remarks, that does not escalate to physical violence or severe psychological abuse.
Tier 1 cases are overseen by community agencies, which include child protection specialist centres, protection specialist centres and family service centres.
Cases with high safety and risk concerns and require statutory intervention are classified as “tier 2”. An example of such a case would be if a parent inflicted severe injuries such as burns or fractures on their child. Tier 2 cases are overseen by MSF.
According to the report, the number of new tier 2 child abuse cases declined slightly by 6 per cent – from 2,141 cases in 2021 to 2,011 cases last year. However, this figure remains higher than pre-COVID levels.
This could be due to increased stress and conflicts faced by families during the pandemic, said MSF. But the ministry also attributed the higher numbers to stepped-up government and community campaigns during this period to increase awareness of domestic violence and reporting of child abuse.
Children aged between seven and 12 made up the largest group of tier 1 cases while those aged six and below accounted for the highest proportion of tier 2 cases.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling told reporters the number of child abuse cases is concerning.
“We see that the primary type of abuse towards children is in the form of physical abuse. We would like to raise greater awareness of this and also to work with educators and community partners so that we are better equipped to detect child abuse cases,” she said on Sep 17.
Explaining her ministry’s stance on corporal punishment, Ms Sun said: “We recognise the role that parents have when it comes to disciplining their children. But there is a line to be drawn when that discipline becomes overly harsh and excessive, and this could be seen if there are open wounds and very prevalent marks of abuse on the child.”
In such cases, the MSF’s Child Protective Service will investigate the case and bring the matter up to the Courts, she added.
“I think very importantly, any form of discipline has to be proportionate to the behaviour of the child so excessive discipline that causes harm to the child is not something that we can condone.”
MSF said the incidence rate of new tier 2 cases remained relatively low at less than three per 1,000 children – low compared to other countries. For example, the incidence rate was 21 per 1,000 children in Australia between 2021 and 2022.
“We recognise that some of these cases may not actually result in final convictions, but regardless, we encourage reporting because every case is one case too many,” said Ms Sun.