Serious Sexual Crimes in Singapore
Parliamentary Question: 8 May 2019
Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to cases of serious sexual crimes handled by the police in the last five years (a) how many cases were filed each year; (b) how many cases were charged in court and for these, what is the median time which elapsed between the making of the police report and the completion of investigations; © how many cases were prosecuted in court and of these, what percentage resulted in a conviction; and (d) of those that were not prosecuted in court, what percentage resulted in (i) a warning being issued to the perpetrator (ii) no further action taken against the perpetrator and (iii) the complainant being warned or charged with false reporting.
Mr K Shanmugam: There were about 250 reported cases of serious sexual crimes (i.e. rape and sexual assault by penetration) a year for the period of 2014 to 2018. No further action was taken in about 130 of the cases as no offence was made out after investigations. In about another 10 cases, police charged or warned the complainants for making false reports.
Of the remaining 110 cases, about 50 cases were prosecuted in court per year. About 60 cases resulted in warnings in lieu of prosecution.
On average, police require about 12 months to conclude investigations into such crimes. However, the actual length may differ from case to case depending on their complexity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Anthea Ong is a Nominated Member of Parliament. (A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a Member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the President. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in Parliament.)
The multi-sector perspective that comes from her ground immersion of 12 years in different capacities helps her translate single-sector issues and ideas across boundaries without alienating any particular community/group. As an entrepreneur and with many years in business leadership, it is innate in her to discuss social issues with the intent of finding solutions, or at least of exploring possibilities. She champions mental health, diversity and inclusion — and volunteerism in Parliament.
She is also an impact entrepreneur/investor and a passionate mental health advocate, especially in workplace wellbeing. She started WorkWell Leaders Workgroup in May 2018 to bring together top leaders (CXOs, Heads of HR/CSR/D&I) of top employers in Singapore (both public and private) to share, discuss and co-create inclusive practices to promote workplace wellbeing. Anthea is also the founder of Hush TeaBar, Singapore’s 1st silent teabar and a social movement that aims to bring silence, self care and social inclusion into every workplace, every community — with a cup of tea. The Hush Experience is completely led by lovingly-trained Deaf facilitators, supported by a team of Persons with Mental Health Issues (PMHIs).