24/7 to help victims of domestic violence, emergency response team will be launched in April next year, and members have the right to issue emergency protection orders
Wang Yanting, reporting
gladysyt@sph.com.sg
To help victims of domestic violence faster, a 24/7 emergency response team will be launched in April next year to work with the police to deal with serious domestic violence incidents. In critical situations, the Director of Social Welfare and specified members can even apply for personal protection orders on behalf of victims.
The members of the 24/7 emergency response team include social service personnel from the Ministry of Social and Family Development. They have the power to issue emergency protection orders at the scene to protect victims.
Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development, also revealed at the biennial National Domestic Violence Network System Symposium on Wednesday (November 16) that the authorities plan to amend the domestic violence-related provisions in the Women's Charter early next year to allow the Director of Social Welfare and designated Ministry of Social and Family Development personnel to apply for personal protection orders on behalf of victims.
The authorities also intend to increase penalties for violating personal protection orders and conditions, and court orders such as mandatory counseling orders may be illegal.
Perpetrators affected by mental conditions may also receive mandatory treatment orders, with more details to be announced next year.
Sun Xueling stressed that the changes are to better protect victims and help perpetrators change when they are held accountable.
It is also important to help perpetrators prevent violence"Family protection work currently revolves around victims, but I think it is equally important to discuss how to help perpetrators, so as to prevent further violence and build more positive and resilient relationships."
Any victim of violence can seek a full range of social and psychological support from the Family Violence Specialist Centre or the Integrated Services for Personal and Family Protection. To highlight this, the Domestic Violence Prevention Centre was renamed the Protection Specialist Centre.
Sun Xueling also announced that an online platform will be launched by the end of this year as an additional reporting platform for the 24-hour national riot and sexual harassment hotline, making it easier for those in need to report and seek help as soon as possible.
So far, 3,400 people have received training in identifying and responding to domestic violence. The Ministry of Social and Family Development launched guidelines for the comprehensive management of child protection cases at the seminar to assist partner agencies in strengthening coordination when handling child protection cases. The
physical seminar attracted nearly 350 judicial and law enforcement, social services, health care, and educational institutions, and also invited overseas speakers to give lectures. The
11 group won the Domestic Violence Dialogue Group award, and Hong Jingyou, chief social worker of Taiheguan Family Service Center, was one of the winners.
In an interview, he said that domestic violence cases have gradually increased since the epidemic, which may be caused by various reasons such as job uncertainty and increased cost of living, or increased public awareness, and more people are actively seeking help.
He stressed that addressing domestic violence is not only about caring for the victim, but also about working with the abuser to solve the problem. "Many abusers may have been victims as children or witnessed violence. This may lead them to cope with stress in the same way, such as taking control. What we can do is help them become aware of their behavioral problems and learn to solve them differently."
These changes are to better protect victims and help them change when holding perpetrators accountable.
- Sun Xueling