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Singapore

MSF launches 24-hour domestic

violence helpline for victims, public
to seek help

Photo illustration of child abuse.

SINGAPORE: What should you do if you hear your neighbours fight or their children
screaming and crying, and you think it could be a case of family violence?

Who can you go to for support if you've been abused by your spouse?

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Victims and members of the public can now call a 24-hour national helpline to
report family violence and other cases of abuse and neglect.

The number for the National Anti-Violence Helpline is 1800 777 0000.

Launched by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the helpline is
Singapore's first such national initiative dedicated to calls related to abuse and
violence.

It eliminates the need for callers to navigate multiple helplines, preventing

confusion and enabling faster response. 

Before 2021, there were five helplines for Advertisement

reporting child abuse and another five for

family violence, said an MSF
spokesperson. These helplines are still in
operation.
 The new national helpline started
operations on Jan 18, working with social
service agency Montfort Care to operate
the helpline.

The helpline operates primarily in English,

with Mandarin, Malay and Tamil-
speaking professionals available if needed.

It has received about 450 calls since it

By Ang Hwee Min started operations last month, said an MSF
(/author/11720656)
(/author/11720656) spokesman. 

23 Feb 2021 06:12PM

(Updated: 23 Feb 2021 06:20PM)

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Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling on a visit to the call centre for the National
Anti-Violence Helpline on Feb 23. (Photo: Ang Hwee Min)

UNSURE IF SOMETHING IS WORTH REPORTING?

Senior social worker and helpline supervisor Tan Si Yin, who is part of the team
taking calls from the helpline, recounted how a concerned neighbour called to report
that they had heard a lot of crying and screaming from the children living in the unit
next to theirs. 

"The member of public was also not very sure whether it was something reportable,
something concerning," said Ms Tan, speaking to journalists on Tuesday (Feb 23). 

"But I think the good thing was that the member of public decided to call the
helpline so that we could discuss further with her what was it that she heard, and
whether she could actually identify the unit for us,  so that we can work with our
community partners to do an outreach."

Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said the new
helpline provides a consolidated platform for those seeking help.
"Before us rolling out the National Anti-Violence Helpline, we had different hotlines
that were maintained by different community partners. We thought that there was a
need to pull the different hotlines together into one consolidated helpline so that
people who are looking for help know that there is one place that they can go to for
help," said Ms Sun. 

"It is a number they can easily remember, and very importantly, this is a service that
is 24/7, and it's manned by trained social workers, and they will know how to triage
the call and help introduce the victims or the survivors of family violence, to the
relevant channels, whereby they are able to seek further help."

► READ: 22% increase in family violence reports since start of circuit

breaker period: SPF (/news/singapore/family-violence-domestic-abuse-
police-reports-circuit-breaker-12731056?
cid=h3_referral_inarticlelinks_24082018_cna)

MANAGEMENT OF CALLS

DHL is MSF's appointed operator for its call centre operations. When a call comes in,
DHL's customer service officers will address the general enquiries and escalate
reporting of violence incidents to the Montfort Care social service professionals, said
the spokesman.

There are about 17 people manning the helpline: 10 of them are from Montfort Care
and the remaining from DHL, the spokesman added.

The Montfort Care social service professionals will then provide psychosocial
support to the victim, gather information, and relay the cases to the respective
agencies such as the Child or Adult Protective Services or hospitals and shelters.

For example, the social service professional might ask a concerned neighbour person
about the frequency of the quarrels they've heard, and whether there are children in
the unit, said Ms Tan.

The operator on the line may also ask what conversations they have overheard and
whether they've called the police before, she added.

If there is a life-threatening incident, the police is informed within 15 minutes of the

helpline call, said the MSF spokesman.

► READ: COVID-19: MSF keeping 'close watch' on domestic abuse cases as

more reach out for help over circuit breaker period
(/news/singapore/covid-19-msf-domestic-abuse-violence-cases-
circuit-breaker-12671330?
cid=h3_referral_inarticlelinks_24082018_cna)

MSF said in a press release the first phase of the roll-out of the national helpline will
take place between January and August this year. During this phase, support
provided by existing helplines for family violence and abuse will be consolidated into
one hotline.

Between September this year and June 2022, MSF aims to leverage technology to
develop other modes of reporting and expand the types of platforms available to seek
help, the release read.

Between January and October last year, there was a 40 per cent increase in the
number of calls to the various helplines that deal with family violence, said Ms Sun.
 "2020 was a unique and very challenging year. We all know that COVID-19 has
brought about significant stresses to families. And as a result of that, there were
more enquiries made, more calls made, to the various helplines that deal with family
violence," she added. 

"But if we look at the number of cases that were subsequently investigated by CPS as
well as APS, the number of cases investigated has remained stable at about 120 cases
per month."

Source:
CNA/hw

Tagged Topics
MSF (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/topic/msf)

Ministry of Social and Family Development

(https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/topic/ministry-of-social-and-family-development)

family violence (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/topic/family-violence)

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