Financial abuse cases include those where seniors' children withdraw their money without their consent. - PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Elderly parents forced by their children to sell their assets – to their children’s benefit but to the seniors’ detriment – is an emerging issue raised by social workers and other stakeholders.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is working with its partners and relevant stakeholders to further study the problem of financial abuse.
An MSF spokesman told The Straits Times that financial abuse of the elderly is a complex issue that is subject to different interpretations.
“Monies and gifts are frequently exchanged between family members, which may make the distinction between unwise financial decisions and financial abuse less clear,” the spokesman said.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling highlighted the problem of financial abuse when the Women’s Charter (Family Violence and Other Matters) (Amendment) Bill was passed on July 4.
She said the MSF had considered whether to include financial abuse in the definition of family violence, but that this requires further study as it is a complex issue.
In her parliamentary speech, Ms Sun said MSF is prepared to consider the possibility of enacting a stand-alone Domestic Violence Act in the future, to boost protection for those in intimate non-familial relationships, such as couples who are unmarried.
Ms Sun told ST that some members of the public had raised this issue during a public consultation on ways to better tackle family violence. Thus, MSF intends to engage relevant stakeholders and will share more details when they are ready.
She said centres that specialise in tackling family violence, called protection specialist centres, now offer support to survivors of violence in familial and non-familial relationships.
An MSF spokesman said that at the end of 2021, the protection specialist centres expanded their services to take on non-familial sexual violence cases.
Common forms of abuse faced by non-family members in intimate relationships include physical, emotional and psychological abuse.
These victims can apply for protection orders under the Protection from Harassment Act (Poha), similar to personal protection orders under the Women’s Charter. Perpetrators who breach the protection orders under Poha can be fined or jailed.
The spokesman added: “The Government does not condone violence against any person, regardless of one’s marital status.”
The Women’s Charter amendments include a host of new provisions to empower the authorities to better protect victims, and to strengthen the rehabilitation of abusers.
The law was also updated to make it clear that besides physical abuse, other forms of violence such as sexual, emotional and psychological abuse are also considered family violence.
Ms Sun said in Parliament that there are cases where perpetrators threaten to withhold monthly allowances from their spouses, constantly call their spouses to check on their whereabouts, and isolate them from their family and friends by methods such as not allowing them to leave the home.
She said: “These egregious forms of controlling behaviour – which fall within the definition of what some other jurisdictions call coercive control – can cause distress or mental harm to a survivor and would be considered emotional or psychological abuse under the new Bill.”
The MSF spokesman said the new Bill defines emotional or psychological abuse as “conduct or behaviour that torments, intimidates, harasses or distresses a person, or that causes or may reasonably be expected to cause mental harm to a person, including thoughts of suicide or inflicting self-harm”.
The spokesman added: “While emotional and psychological abuse may be less visible or less understood, the harm that is caused to the survivor is no less significant. Hence, survivors of all forms of violence should be protected.”
The updated definition will also promote a common understanding of abusive behaviour among the public, professionals in the social service sector, the courts and lawyers.
This would facilitate better detection and identification of acts of abuse, the spokesman said.
While it is easier to see the injuries and scars caused by physical violence, it is harder for victims to produce evidence of emotional and psychological abuse such as coercive control, said lawyer June Lim, chairman of Pro Bono SG’s Family Justice Support Scheme.
To this end, the MSF spokesman said victims may produce a record or history of the instances and frequency of abuse, such as their own accounts and eyewitnesses’ accounts.
This record could include documentary evidence such as police reports and medical reports, and digital evidence such as text messages and audio recordings.
The new provisions in the Bill will be implemented in 2024.
Ms Sun said the Bill brought to fruition all the legislative amendments required to give effect to the recommendations made by the Taskforce on Family Violence in 2021, which she and Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim co-chaired.
Ms Kristine Lam, principal social worker at Care Corner Singapore, said she has seen financial abuse cases where seniors say their children asked them to sell their home, give them the sales proceeds, and move in with them.
She said: “Some of the children made life really hard for their parents until they could not take it, or they used physical violence to get them to move out. So the seniors sought help when they were abandoned.”
The other financial abuse cases Ms Lam has seen include seniors whose children withdraw their money without their consent. The children hold on to their frail parents’ ATM cards, purportedly to help them manage their finances. - The Straits Times/ANN
