If you are in danger right now, call the police on 999. If you need advice about family violence at any hour, the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline is 1800 777 0000.
Reporting family violence in Singapore usually starts with one of three things: a police report, a medical visit, or an application to the Family Justice Courts for a Personal Protection Order. They are not alternatives; most people who take action end up doing more than one, in an order that suits their situation. This guide sets out each step, what actually happens afterwards, and how to think about the two fears that stop most people: not being believed, and making things worse.
You do not have to have decided anything about your marriage to report. Reporting creates a record and opens options. It does not lock you into a path.
When to call 999
Call the police immediately if:
- There is immediate danger to you, a child or anyone else in the household.
- An assault is happening now, or has just happened.
- Someone has been threatened with a weapon, or you believe a threat is about to be carried out.
- Someone has breached a protection order: breach of a Personal Protection Order or an expedited order is a criminal offence, and the police can act on it.
- You are locked in, prevented from leaving, or cannot get to a safe place.
If you cannot speak freely, still make the call. Leave the line open. Say a street name or block number if that is all you can manage.
What happens when the police attend
Officers will separate the people involved and take accounts from each of them, and from anyone else present including, carefully, children. They will look at injuries and damage. They will ask what has happened before, so say if this is not the first time, because a pattern matters more than a single incident.
Depending on what they find, the police may issue a warning, refer the matter for further investigation, record a report for follow-up, arrange for a medical examination, or make an arrest. In some circumstances they can act without the victim making a formal complaint, so the decision does not rest entirely on your shoulders, which many people find a relief. They can also refer you to support services and explain how to apply for a protection order.
Making a police report
You can make a report at a police station or through the police’s online reporting channels, and you can do it days or weeks after an incident. Later is much better than never, though a report made close in time carries more weight.
Bring, or have ready:
- Your NRIC or other identification.
- Dates, times and locations, as specific as you can manage, including for earlier incidents.
- Photographs of injuries or damage, with dates.
- Messages, voicemails or emails containing threats.
- Any medical documents you already have.
- The names of anyone who saw or heard what happened.
Describe what happened factually and in order. You do not need legal language. Include the things that feel too small to mention, such as being prevented from leaving, phone or money being taken, or threats about the children, because the legal definition of family violence extends beyond physical injury.
Ask for a copy of your report, or note the report number. You will need it for a protection order application, for a divorce, and for any agency you deal with later. Keep it somewhere the other person cannot find it.
Medical documentation
If you are injured, see a doctor: a polyclinic, a GP, or A&E for anything serious. Do this even if you have decided not to pursue anything yet.
A medical record made close to the incident is contemporaneous evidence. It records what the injuries were, when they were seen, and what you said had caused them, written by an independent professional at a time when no one was preparing a case. Weeks later, that record is often the difference between an account and a documented account. Photographs you take yourself are useful too, but they do not carry the same weight.
Tell the doctor plainly how the injury happened, and say if you have been injured before. Ask them to note it. You are entitled to request a medical report later, usually for a fee. Nothing about attending a doctor commits you to a police report or a court application.
Applying for a Personal Protection Order
A Personal Protection Order is a civil order from the Family Justice Courts restraining a family member from using family violence against you. Where the situation is urgent, the court can make an expedited order before the full hearing. There are also related orders that can exclude a person from the home or part of it.
Applications are made at the Family Justice Courts, and you do not need a lawyer to apply. Help with preparing an application is available from the protection specialist centres and family service centres, and the court’s own information counters can explain the process. Details of eligibility, what you need to show and what happens at the hearing are set out in our guide to Personal Protection Orders, with the wider legal framework in our family violence pillar.
A police report is not a precondition for a PPO application, but having one strengthens it considerably. This is one of the reasons to report even when you are undecided.
Reporting concerns about a child
If a child is being hurt, neglected, or is living with violence in the home, that can be reported. Anyone can raise a concern; you do not need to be a relative, and you do not need proof.
Where a child is at risk, MSF has statutory powers under the child protection framework, including investigation and, in serious cases, removing a child to a place of safety. What that process involves is set out in child protection under the Children and Young Persons Act. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
Parents sometimes hesitate to report violence in their own home because they fear their children will be taken away. In practice, intervention is generally aimed at supporting the family and making the home safe, and a parent who takes protective action is not the parent that intervention is directed at. Removal is a last resort where a child cannot be kept safe.
Reporting concerns about a vulnerable adult
Where the person at risk is an adult who cannot protect themselves, because of physical or mental infirmity, disability or incapacity, there is a separate statutory framework. It allows for investigation, assessment and, in serious cases, protective orders and removal to a place of temporary care. See how the Vulnerable Adults Act works, and elder abuse in Singapore for the specific patterns to watch for, including financial abuse and neglect.
You can raise a concern about a vulnerable adult even if the person themselves has not asked for help, and even if they deny anything is wrong.
Reporting as a third party
Neighbours, friends, colleagues and relatives can and do report. If you hear a violent assault next door, call 999. That is exactly what the number is for, and you do not need to be certain about what is happening.
For non-urgent concerns, you can call 1800 777 0000 for advice on what to do, including how to raise it with the person and what support exists. You do not need the victim’s consent to seek advice, and you can ask about a situation without naming anyone at first.
What helps most is usually not the report itself but staying present. People experiencing violence are often isolated deliberately, and the person who keeps in touch without judgement is the one they eventually turn to. There is practical guidance in how to help someone in an abusive relationship.
What happens after you report
The honest answer is that outcomes vary widely, and no one can promise you a particular one.
| Route | Realistic range of outcomes |
|---|---|
| Police report | Advice or warning given; referral to support services; investigation; in more serious cases, arrest and charges |
| PPO application | Referral to counselling; a consent order; a PPO granted after hearing; an expedited order where urgent; or dismissal if the court is not satisfied |
| Child protection concern | Assessment; family support and supervision; in serious cases, statutory intervention |
| Vulnerable adult concern | Assessment and support; in serious cases, protective orders under the statutory framework |
| Medical attendance only | Treatment and a record that remains available if you act later |
Timelines vary. Some things move within days, particularly where there is urgency; others take weeks. Ask, at each point, who your contact is and what the next step is.
“They won’t believe me” and “it will make things worse”
These are the two reasons people give for not reporting, and both deserve a straight answer.
On being believed: you do not need to prove anything to make a report. You need to say what happened. Nobody expects a coherent, chronological account from someone who has just been assaulted, and inconsistency about details is normal and understood. What makes an account persuasive over time is not polish but consistency and documentation, which is why the report, the photographs and the medical record matter more than how well you tell it on the day. If English is not the language you are most comfortable in, ask for an interpreter.
On making things worse: this concern is not irrational, and the period around leaving or reporting can be a higher-risk time. The response is not to stay silent but to plan. Think through where you would go, who you would call, what you would need to take, and how you would get out, and do that thinking before you need it. Safety planning for family violence sets out how, including what to keep ready and how to prepare children without frightening them. Support workers at the specialist centres do safety planning with people every day and will do it with you.
If it is all too much, you can talk to someone. The Samaritans of Singapore can be reached on 1767, and the national mental health helpline is 1771. Neither will ask you to report anything.
Reporting and divorce are separate decisions
Reporting violence does not start a divorce, and getting a protection order does not commit you to leaving. Many people obtain a PPO and stay; some report and never take it further; some do nothing for a year and then act.
If you do later divorce, the record you built matters. A history of violence is relevant to the divorce itself, to arrangements for the children and the family home, and to how proceedings are managed for your safety. That is another argument for reporting now and deciding later. If you want advice on your own situation, we can connect you with a licensed Singapore law practice through our enquiry page.
Emergency: 999. Family violence advice: 1800 777 0000. Samaritans of Singapore: 1767. National mental health helpline: 1771.
