Latest MSF report shows there were almost 4,700 new cases of child abuse recorded in Singapore in 2025
SINGAPORE: On Thursday (Oct 29), the Ministry of Social and Family Development released the latest Domestic Violence Trends Report, which shows that the number of domestic violence cases remained elevated in 2025.
There were a total of 4,686 new cases of child abuse, 1,920 new cases of spousal abuse, 290 new cases of elder abuse, 104 new cases of vulnerable adult abuse, and 37 new cases of self-neglect.
Higher figures due to higher reporting and detection
There has been an increase in reports to the National Anti-Violence & Sexual Harassment Helpline (NAVH), as well as in the ground responses from the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team.
According to the report, these trends show that there has been stronger reporting and detection of abuse, as well as the team’s now broader capacity to respond to high-risk incidents.
“Our focus is therefore both preventive and responsive: to strengthen families and address stresses upstream, and where there are concerns, to identify concerns early, protect those at risk, support affected families, and work with persons causing harm to reduce the risk of recurrence,” the report reads.
Child abuse cases
The report separates abuse cases into Tier 1 and Tier 2 classifications. Tier 1 cases have low to moderate safety and risk concerns and are overseen by community agencies. Meanwhile, Tier 2 cases are those with high safety and risk concerns requiring statutory intervention overseen by MSF’s Protective Service.
While there was only a slight difference between new Tier 1 child abuse cases in 2024 (2,373 ) and 2025 (2,476), this number is elevated compared to the 2023 baseline of 2,128 cases.
As for Tier 2 child abuse cases, there were 1,917 new such incidents reported in 2025, an incidence rate of 2.3 cases per 1,000 children.
Children between seven and 12 years old formed the largest group of child abuse cases across both tiers, and the most common type experienced by children was physical abuse.
“A significant proportion of cases involved the excessive use of physical force for the purpose of discipline. While parents may adopt different approaches to discipline, MSF encourages parents to use non-physical means of discipline and build positive parent-child relationships,” the ministry observed.
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Other types of domestic abuse
In 2025, there were 1,920 new Tier 1 spousal abuse cases, compared to 1,871 cases the year before. The report says that the upward trend in reporting shows that more victim-survivors are coming forward to seek support.
As for elder abuse, there was only a slight difference in incidents reported in 2025 (290) and 2024 (293), although there is a significant increase from the 230 cases reported in 2023.
MSF said it will continue to monitor trends in elder abuse.
The ministry’s full report may be found here. /TISG