Domestic violence: Number doubles
Straits Times. Feb 2, 1998
By Braema Mathi
THE number of people applying for court orders to protect themselves
against violent family members nearly doubled last year, with three quarters
of the applications being made after amendments to the Women's Charter
Act came into effect.
A total of 2019 applications were received and more than seven out of 10 of them were made after May 1 last year when the amendments took effect.
In 1996, there were 1306 applications.
With the amendments, family members, and not only spouses, can apply for personal protection orders. The definition of violence was also broadened to include intimidation, continual harassment or restraining someone against his will.
A protection order is granted by the court to forbid an abuser from coming too close to a family member.
For example, he may not be allowed to enter the home of a protected person.
The victims seek help at the Family Protection Unit, which was set up in 1997 as part of the Family Court. The court was set up in April 1996.
The court's senior counsellor, Ms Khatijah Dawood, said that while the increase in the number of protection orders indicates that the amendments have helped, counsellors are also concerned at the number of withdrawals.
Last year, almost one out of seven, or 315 people, withdrew their applications. The Family Court could not give a breakdown on the type of people who make or withdraw the applications.
Ms Dawood said: "These victims are in need of protection but we have to respect their choice to withdraw.
"We are especially concerned when it is a serious case and we do not know what goes on in their home."
Some applicants, she said, withdrew their applications because the abusers had apologised and promised to change.
Others were afraid of or did not want to embarrass the family member who was abusing them.
Ms Dawood, who has more than 12 years of social work experience, said some applicants who withdrew came back later for help when conditions worsened.
The court is also concerned that victims do not file police reports when protection orders are breached.
This defeats the whole purpose of applying for a protection order and may embolden some abusers to be more violent.
To cope with the increase in workload, more counsellors are being hired.
In less than two years, the number of counsellors has jumped from three to nine.
Six more are to be recruited.
On average, each counsellor sees three or four cases a day.
Each case requires two sessions which can take up to 1-1/2 hours each.
In a week, counsellors handle 55 protection order cases and 15 divorces.
For protection order applications, counsellors assess the risk victims face, refer them to crisis centres, co-ordinate with other agencies, protect family members from abusers, give information on self-protection skills, build up victims' self-esteem and counsel abusers.
Ms Dawood said it is possible to assess cases in a 1-1/2 hour session if counsellors are experienced.
She said: "There is no time to train a new graduate, so experience is crucial for quick assessment of cases.