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More cases of spousal, elder abuse in 2024 amid greater awareness of issue
The Straits Times
|December 11, 2025
More cases of spouses and seniors being abused were reported in 2024, continuing an upward trend since 2021, driven by greater awareness of such abuse and the support available.
New spousal abuse cases rose 6 per cent, from 2,008 in 2023 to 2,136 in 2024.
The number of new elder abuse cases grew from 297 in 2023 to 359 in 2024. Such cases, which are considered low to moderate safety and risk concerns, are managed by community agencies.
These figures were released in the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) Domestic Violence Trends Report on Dec 10, outlining an overall increase in most categories of abuse. Child abuse cases in Singapore went up by about 14 per cent in 2024.
The ministry said in a statement on Dec 10 that a significant proportion of spousal abuse cases managed by family service centres were self-referrals, showing willingness by clients to seek support.
The family service centres and protection specialist centres also observed an increase in referrals from the police and the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team since the team's launch in 2023, the ministry added.
In response to queries, MSF said it does not track differences in self-referral rates by sex or age, but about 75 per cent of personal protection order applicants between 2021 and 2024 were females.
This story is from the December 11, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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