The Singapore Police Force (SPF) held the Sexual Crime Awareness Seminar on 14 April 2023, in conjunction with the international Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The event, held at the Police Cantonment Complex, was graced by Minister for Home Affairs and for Law, Mr K Shanmugam, who delivered an opening address.
Sexual crime continues to be a concern in Singapore. Between 2019 and 2022, there were 9,629 reports of sexual assault, including rape, sexual assault by penetration, outrage of modesty, and sexual crime involving children and vulnerable victims. Of these, 1,096 were allegedly committed by family members or relatives. Outrage of modesty cases increased to 1,610 in 2022, from 1,474 cases in 2021.
The seminar served to raise awareness of the impact of sexual crime on victims and deepen partnerships and collaborations amongst the Police’s partners and stakeholders in sexual crime management – Government agencies and community partners alike – to better protect and support sexual crime victims. Given the trauma they experience, it is important to ensure that they are handled sensitively from the moment they seek the Police’s assistance.
The seminar included presentations by the Police’s key partners and stakeholders, such as the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Care Corner Project StART (CCPS), and specialists from the Serious Sexual Crime Branch and Police Psychological Services Department.
The Government takes a firm stance against sexual crimes and has amended the law to increase deterrence. In 2021, the Penal Code was amended to increase the penalties for certain sexual offences, including outrage of modesty. This year, a new Online Criminal Harms Act will be introduced to safeguard persons in Singapore from online activities which are crimes in the laws governing the physical realm in Singapore, including sexual crimes such as distribution of inappropriate sexual abuse material.
The Police have put in place some initiatives following their second Sexual Crime Review (announced in 2022), as follows.
- The Police formed the Sexual Crime and Family Violence Command (SFC) on 3 April 2023 to raise the standards of investigations and provide better oversight of the management of sexual crime and family violence cases. The Command, under the Criminal Investigation Department, also allows the Police to reap synergies in stakeholder management and policymaking, and enhance victim care processes.
- Given the close nexus between sexual crime and family violence cases, the Police have curated specialised topics to cross-train officers dealing in both these types of cases. For example, in 2022, more than 3,500 frontline officers and investigation officers received sensitivity training on the engagement and management of family violence victims. This is on top of ongoing sensitivity training for officers managing sexual crime victims.
- The SPF webpage on sexual crime has been revamped and serves as a one-stop information centre on sexual crimes and the investigation processes. This helps to raise public awareness about sexual crimes and to dispel myths and stereotypes associated with sexual crime victims.
The Police have also worked with stakeholders to enhance the ecosystem of support for victims of sexual crimes. For example:
- Since July 2022, the Police have worked with CCPS to offer victim support services to victims of serious sexual crimes, which includes longer-term counselling beyond the conclusion of investigations. This augments the emotional support provided by the Victim Care Officers during the course of investigations, under the Police’s Victim Care Cadre programme.
- Since January 2023, the Police piloted an initiative with SG Her Empowerment (SHE) to better support sexual crime victims. When SHE is the first touchpoint for a victim of certain serious sexual crimes, where urgent medical examination is not needed, and depending on the victim’s age, the victim can be interviewed by the Police at the SHECARES@SCWO premises. Victims will also receive support from the staff at the premises.
The Police will further enhance support for sexual crime victims. The upcoming initiatives in 2023 will include the following.
- Enhanced Privacy and Priority for Victims Reporting Sexual Crimes
From April 2023, the Police will progressively introduce a “Sexual Crime Report” option at the queue management system kiosk at Neighbourhood Police Centres. When a victim of sexual crime selects this option at the kiosk, the Police will prioritise attending to them and facilitate their reporting in a private area.
- Improved Infrastructure to Enhance Privacy and Comfort for Victims
The One-Stop Abuse Forensic Examination Centre (OneSAFE Centre), operationalised in 2017, has been redesigned and expanded. The redesigned layout and environment of the Centre will provide the victims with a dedicated victim care area to further enhance privacy and comfort during the investigation process. The Centre also includes two new medical rooms, which will increase the capacity for forensic medical examination. This redesigned Centre will be opened later this month.
- Expanding Eligibility Criteria for Multi-Disciplinary Interviews
The Multi-Disciplinary Interview (MDI) model, piloted in 2018, integrates previously separate interviews and forensic examination by different parties such as investigation officers, child protection officers and doctors, into one coordinated interview led by the Police. This reduces the need for child victims of serious sexual crimes to recount the incidents of abuse several times, to different parties, which may traumatise them further. The Police are working with stakeholders to expand the eligibility criteria to include more young victims of serious sexual crimes.
Please refer to ANNEX A for the programme of the seminar.
Please refer to ANNEX B for the profiles of the speakers and their presentation write-ups.
Annex A ▼
Annex B ▼
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
14 April 2023 @ 1:00 PM