Unity retail staff to be trained to spot signs of family violence
Initiative by pharmacy chain and MSF will make it easier for victims and community to file reports or seek help
Several hundred retail assistants across 71 Unity stores and pharmacies will be trained by next month to spot signs of family violence, to make it easier for victims and the community to file reports or seek help.
This is the next phase in an initiative by Unity to work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to strengthen community detection, having sent more than 40 pharmacists from its 42 pharmacies for training last November.
Ms Ang Sor Teng, general manager for health and wellness at Unity, which comes under FairPrice, said yesterday the company is working with MSF to look at having posters or brochures at its FairPrice supermarkets, where there is more footfall.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling yesterday visited Unity Pharmacy in VivoCity and spoke to pharmacists who had undergone the training to recognise signs of family violence.
"Pharmacists are one channel that we're looking at because we are constantly looking for new outreach channels whereby they are our eyes and ears on the ground that victims of family violence have easy access to," she said.
Ms Sun shared some takeaways from a focus group discussion in January with those involved in tackling family violence and working with perpetrators, such as the need to take a close look at the underlying causes and reasons for the use of violence.
For example, if a perpetrator is facing financial stress, the solution could be to provide more monetary aid or support, she said.
The participants called for a holistic approach to addressing the problem, such as tackling other issues that perpetrators face that may lead to violence, including poor emotional regulation, insufficient financial literacy and lack of conflict management skills.
Another idea proposed was to introduce targeted interventions to better address the challenges faced by perpetrators and their needs, with government agencies and social service agencies, for example, sharing data or information.
Participants noted that it is important to help perpetrators understand that what they had done was unacceptable, by building a common understanding of family violence, including what constitutes violent and non- acceptable behaviour among victims, perpetrators, family members, young children and communities.
"We do need to have different solutions to best address the underlying root causes of the perpetrators' behaviour, but better conflict management and encouraging more harmonious family relationships are some of the fundamentals that, regardless of the situation, we will try to promote," added Ms Sun.
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