Studies on Technology and Social Media's Impact on Domestic Violence or Abuse in Society in Context of Global Pandemic

3 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether there has been any studies conducted on how technology and social media has enabled or exacerbated cases of domestic violence or abuse in society particularly in the context of this global pandemic.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: MSF is not aware of any studies on whether technology or social media has exacerbated the risk of domestic violence or abuse in Singapore during this pandemic.

MSF’s Adult and Child Protective Services saw a 40% increase in the number of enquiries in January to October 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. These enquiries included repeat calls by the same individual, or multiple callers reporting the same incident. Not all enquiries involved incidences of violence or abuse. Rather, the increase in enquiries was likely due to Singaporeans being more aware of the risk of family conflict, especially during the Circuit Breaker, as MSF and our partners had stepped up outreach efforts to tackle family violence.

Comparing the same periods of January to October in 2019 and 2020, the number of new cases investigated by MSF’s Adult and Child Protective Services remained stable at about 120 cases per month.