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In the first half of this year, preliminary data suggest that new cases continued to rise across most abuse categories compared with the same period in 2025, said MSF.<\/p>\n
While tier 1 child abuse cases declined slightly, tier 2 child abuse cases saw a slight increase. New spousal abuse, vulnerable adult abuse and vulnerable adult self-neglect cases also rose over the same period.<\/p>\n
These figures will be released in next year’s report, added MSF.<\/p>\n
In its latest report, MSF outlined three changes to how domestic violence cases are counted and reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previously, family service centres recorded abuse-related concerns at the household level rather than the individual level, said the ministry. This limited their ability to identify specific victim-survivors and may have overstated the number of people affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the revised methodology, MSF uses data from the Family and Adult Support Tool to more precisely identify individuals who have experienced or been exposed to abuse.<\/p>\n
The second refinement concerns how high-risk child abuse cases are counted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previously, all children assessed in a household with child protection concerns were counted as tier 2 cases, regardless of whether they had experienced or been exposed to abuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the changes, only children who have been directly abused or neglected, or exposed to abuse in the household, are counted as tier 2 cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Children who are in a household with recorded child abuse concerns but are not exposed or subjected to abuse are no longer included in the figures.<\/p>\n
On this, MSF said it would continue to assess the safety of all children in households where child protection concerns arise.<\/p>\n
The third change addresses the double-counting of cases that move between agencies or between tier 1 and tier 2 classifications within the same year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previously, a case could be counted twice if it moved between the two tiers, such as when a high-risk case was transferred to a community agency for ongoing support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the revised methodology, such cases are counted only once, under the higher safety and risk classification.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But cases that are closed and subsequently reopened because of new or recurring incidents of abuse continue to be counted separately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MSF said these changes generally result in lower reported figures by more precisely identifying individuals affected and removing duplicate counts.<\/p>\n
“The refinements for this year\u2019s report were not prompted by a single catalyst, but are part of ongoing efforts to provide a more meaningful and accurate picture of domestic violence trends,” MSF\u00a0said in response to CNA\u2019s queries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ministry added that 2025 will serve as the baseline year for overall tier 2 cases and tier 2 child abuse cases going forward, as applying the refined classification retrospectively to earlier years would require substantial manual review and re-coding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Where the methodology remains comparable, such as for vulnerable adult cases, we continue to present the historical trend,” it added.<\/p>\n
The report found that children aged seven to 12 formed the largest group of child abuse cases across both tiers.<\/p>\n
Physical abuse was the most common type among tier 1 child abuse cases, with 1,421 cases reported in 2025. This was followed by emotional and psychological abuse, with 562 cases and neglect, with 317 cases.<\/p>\n
Similarly, physical abuse was the most common type among tier 2 child abuse cases, with 885 cases, followed by neglect with 483 cases and sexual abuse with 339 cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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