Personal Protection Orders and Family Violence Cases

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) in each of the last five years, how many cases of family violence have the Family Services Centres and the Family Violence Specialist Centres handled; and (b) what is the breakdown of the cases in terms of the family relationship between the abuser and victim.

Victims affected by family violence may seek assistance and support at various touch points, including MSF-funded Family Service Centres (FSCs) and Family Violence Specialist Centres (FVSCs). Family violence may co-exist with other issues, such as family and marital disputes.

Over the last five years, FSCs reported an average of 1,400 cases annually where family violence was one of the presenting problems. FSCs may refer cases to the three FVSCs for more specialised intervention. Victims can also approach the FVSCs directly. In recent years, FVSCs have worked on an average of 900 family violence cases annually.

Persons who require legal protection in addition to community support can apply for a Personal Protection Order (PPO) at the Family Justice Courts. Over the last five years, the Family Justice Courts received an average of about 3,000 PPO applications annually. An average of 1,200 applications (or about 40% of applications) were issued with an order each year. The remaining applications were withdrawn, struck out or dismissed. The details are provided in Table 1.

On average, 72% of the PPOs issued were made against the applicant’s spouse or former spouse (mainly husband or ex-husband). About 11% of orders were made against children/children-in-law. Orders made against siblings, parents and other relatives made up the rest. While detailed breakdowns are not available for the FSC and FVSC cases, the profiles are broadly similar.