Empowering Singapore’s Children: Tools for Safety and Awareness Against Abuse

29/10/2024  |  By: UniLEARN

(Image Credits: PAVE)

The number of child abuse and neglect cases reported to and investigated by Child Protective Services (CPS) have risen since 2020. CPS investigated 443 child sexual abuse cases in 2021, and this was a 69.7% increase from the sexual abuse cases investigated in 2020. Additionally, a recent study by psychologists from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) showed that younger victims tended to delay the reporting of incidents of child sexual abuse as compared to older child victims.

The Garden of Safety Resource Kit was launched by family violence specialist centre PAVE together with its community partners at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) on Oct 16. The resources are being rolled out to schools, pre-school centres and children’s homes in Singapore.

In his address at the launch, Dr Maliki Osman said, “The collaboration across the entire ecosystem of care conveys a critical message that a child’s safety is non-negotiable because sexual abuse can happen to anyone”.

Echoing similar sentiments, SUSS’s Chancellor, Mdm Halimah Yacob shared, “No child should ever face abuse or violence. While PAVE is fighting to prevent domestic violence, each of us has a role too. We can watch over our families, friends, and neighbours, offering help when it’s needed. Together, we can protect our children.”

(Image Credits: PAVE)

The resource kit by PAVE includes an e-learning module – Teaching Protective Behaviours to Young Children that consist of six lessons on topics such as being and feeling safe, early warning signs and respecting boundaries.

Designed for pre-school educators, parents and caregivers of young children, the three-hour course includes curated video resources, quizzes, and online peer discussions. It is available on SUSS UniLEARN platform, an e-learning initiative for the community.

With the funding from Temasek Foundation Grant, the course fee is at $5.45 for the first 4,000 learners and $10.90 thereafter.

Upon completing the course, educators and caregivers can get access to a new Protective Behaviours Curriculum and Manual that guides them in teaching children to protect themselves against sexual abuse.

As part of the Resource Kit, a “Garden of Safety” mobile game app has also been developed to be played by young children together with their parent/teacher. This is available for download from here.

To sign up for the course, kindly click here.

For further assistance, kindly drop us an email at unilearn@suss.edu.sg

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