Cases of Abuse of Elderly and Disabled Persons

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what is the number of reported and confirmed cases of elderly abuse and abuse of persons with disabilities in the last three years; and (b) whether there have been cases that are charged in court.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong) (for the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, based on cases reported by the various social service agencies such as Family Service Centres, medical social work departments of hospitals and MCYS, there were altogether 170 cases of alleged elderly abuse in 2011. The numbers for 2010 and 2009 were 184 cases and 161 cases, respectively. Sir, we do not have the data on the number of cases where the perpetrators of elderly abuse were eventually charged in court, we also do not have the statistics on the abuse of persons with disabilities at this juncture.

However, clear and serious cases of abuse are reported to the Police and the perpetrators may eventually be brought before the Court. In these as well as other cases, MCYS and other Government and community agencies would accord appropriate protection and assistance to the affected persons as well as their families. Examples of such support include counselling, placements in shelters and also help in the application of personal protection orders. When personal protection orders are made by the Court, the perpetrators will be mandated to attend counselling to learn how to manage their anger as well as their violence issues.

Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef: Sir, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the response. Can I ask if MCYS has an algorithm or a protocol whereby the public who suspect elderly abuse can actually use to report the cases or can they just go to the police station or is there any other VWO or any other vicinity they should approach? Second, are there any plans for the Ministry to work in a collaborative fashion with the Police, as most of the statistics he mentioned were from the Police, and also the community partners and VWO?

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong: Sir, I thank the Member for the two supplementary questions. They are actually inter-related. Sir, currently, there is already a protocol in place to manage the elderly abuse cases. A victim of abuse can approach a social worker, the hospital, the Police or even the Court directly. Each of these agencies and individuals has been trained to provide assistance and also make referrals to relevant agencies or activate the Elder Protection Team whenever necessary, depending on the severity of the case. I appreciate that an elderly person may be reluctant to seek help which is not uncommon among the elderly people in order to avoid embarrassment to their family members, particularly when the abusers are also from the same family.

In such cases, social workers, friends and grassroots leaders can play an important part in identifying elderly persons that need help and refer them to the Family Service Centres, which can then follow up. The Elder Protection Team is activated only for cases that are more complex and serious. This team, spearheaded by Trans Centre which is a voluntary welfare organisation specialising in family violence work, consists of professionals with knowledge in geriatric, psychiatric, law and social work.

Page: 171

Sir, the best management of elderly abuse is early detection at the upstream. To achieve this, I think there must be a total approach and a community partnership involving not just the Government agencies but also the community partners such as grassroots organisations, VWOs, residents' committees, neighbours and even Members of Parliament. When such cases are referred or reported or picked up by them during the house-to-house visits, I would encourage Members to refer these cases to the Family Services Centres or to MCYS for intervention and follow-up.

Only when this collective community partnership is in place where everybody plays a part, then I think the symptoms and the problems of elderly abuse will be able to be picked up early so that the appropriate, necessary and timely intervention can be instituted in order to find a solution for the victims of elderly abuse.