Agencies at the coalface of New Zealand's domestic violence issue discuss the solutions to the problem.





The most comprehensive review of the government's response to New Zealand's domestic violence problem is under way. But agencies say lasting change requires a collective cultural shift that starts in our communities, families and homes. Jonathan Carson reports.



Can we change New Zealand's shocking record of domestic violence?

CHRIS SKELTON/FAIRFAX NZ Minister of Justice Amy Adams announces an overhaul of domestic violence laws at a conference in Auckland in June.

It is a question that Minister of Justice Amy Adams - a woman who is leading the overhaul of the government's response to family violence - struggles with.

The country has the worst reported rate of family violence in the developed world, after all.

It has been described as an epidemic, a social norm and a "scar" on New Zealand. Adams has said it is "one of the most insidious forms of social evil facing this country".

It's as though harming those closest to us is entrenched in our culture. So what are the solutions?

"I'm not naive enough to think we can fix this," Adams says. "But I am absolutely optimistic we can make it better."

The government is undergoing a "comprehensive, ground-up review" of how it responds to family violence led by the justice and social development ministries, Adams says. It also involves police and the Law Commission.

Adams has signalled at sweeping changes to domestic violence legislation, including new standalone offences, a pathway for victims, perpetrators and families who want help to stop violence, but don't want to go to court, and better information sharing between agencies.

This month, she revealed a new "potentially life-saving initiative" that makes it easier for police to disclose a person's violent criminal past to a concerned partner or friend.

She is expected to unveil further changes in January.

She says the estimated $1.4 billion the government spends on family violence annually is not getting the best results.

It's a "no brainer" to ensure the money is spent effectively, she says, which could see funding cuts for some services and top-ups for others.

"One of the things that we've learned is that if you just keep throwing in more initiatives, more programmes, and more agencies you actually make the system worse."

Adams says she's supportive of more funding for prevention strategies and supporting victims and perpetrators during the early stages of violence.

"What we see generally is that these situations escalate and, to me, investing in families when they're first showing signs of dysfunction is better than putting all our energies at the very serious end."



Read more from Behind Closed Doors:

* The problem: 'It's horrific'

* Anna's story: 'I thought he was going to kill me'

* 'Domestic violence cannot be shut behind closed doors'

* Why we're turning the spotlight on domestic violence

* The victims: 'You're not alone ... there's help out there'

* The perpetrators: 'They are us'

* Emma's story: 'My son saved my life'

* The protectors: 'We'd love to be made redundant'

SVS Living Safe manager Dee Cresswell says some services need to be fully-funded.

"If we're trying address this huge problem around family violence, which is impacting on businesses' productivity, then we need to be funding the services, or whoever's doing it properly."

Adams says the government and the public have "got to be prepared and brave enough to try new things".

"If we don't change anything we're not going to get different outcomes," she says.

"I've never pretended that legislation is going to be the fix, but I think it's an important part of it."

Aside from government reviews, changes to legislation and funding, agencies at the coalface of the issue in Nelson say the solutions start at the grassroots, by people choosing not to accept violence in their communities, families and homes.

"There's a thing about an individual is responsible for their act of violence but as a community we're responsible for responding to that act," Te Rito project leader Felicity Hurst says.

She says it's important for agencies, workplaces, schools, neighbours and families to collectively stand up and say violence is not OK.

Nelson Bays police family violence co-ordinator Sergeant Mike Wardle says the response to domestic violence "has to be collaborative".

"One agency can't say, 'This is our problem, we will fix it.' It's a community problem and the community needs to help."

Adams says there needs to be more public understanding of the extent of the problem and "widespread public complete condemnation" of its prevalence in society.

"I think far too many New Zealanders want to not think about it, or think it's something that doesn't happen in their community or their street and I can tell you that it does."

For Nelson Women's Refuge manager Katie O'Donnell, the solution to New Zealand's domestic violence problem is more straightforward.

"People say it's a really complex issue. Well, it is a complex issue but also it isn't - guys just have to stop doing it. I think that's the solution, is somehow creating a culture where men don't hit women, or abuse women, or feel like they have to have that sort of control in the family."

O'Donnell says the cultural shift needed to reduce the rate of domestic violence can be likened to New Zealand's changing attitudes to drink-driving and smoking cigarettes.

"We stop people from drink driving - almost. We stop people from smoking by saying, 'Ew, that's horrible. How can you do that?'

"It takes people to step up and say, 'Don't do that, don't treat your family like that'."

Cresswell says it's difficult for a person to change a behaviour they have learned and exhibited their whole life. She says education from a young age is essential to break the cycle of violence that is commonly perpetuated by parents.

"So what we need to be doing is getting them younger, we need to be teaching them in schools how to be in a relationship basically, how to respect each other. We don't do enough intervention. And I hate to say it, but even going into kindergartens."

Sexual Abuse Support and Healing Nelson service coordinator, Sarah-Jane Macmillan, says to achieve lasting change "we've got to change the stereotypes, we've got to challenge the myths, we've got to keep talking about it".

"I think part of the problem that we have is that society becomes very complacent. A woman will be murdered by her partner or a child will be abused in the family home and for five minutes we go ,'That's terrible' and we kind of just go back to life and it doesn't affect us anymore," she says.

"It's about keeping that momentum going, I think, and not resting on our laurels that we are making progress so we don't need to keep trying. I think it's about continuing with the work that we're doing and being constantly vocal."

Cresswell says it will take "quite a few generations" to change the culture of violence in New Zealand.

"That'll be the real test in years to come," Wardle says, "With the good work that we do now, how will it flow on to the youth of today who are growing up through it? I feel very positive with the good work that we're doing that we will see some significant changes."

Cresswell says the government and social agencies can only do much. Bystanders also have to be willing to speak up when they witness incidences of domestic violence.

"It takes courage because we don't want to get involved. We build fences around our houses, we keep ourselves isolated. Do we know who's in our neighbourhood, do we know who's in our community? That's how we can do it. It's the small things individuals do just to show that they care that could just be the turning point for that [person] to say, 'Hey, I don't want to live like this anymore, I need some help.'"

Anna, a Nelson woman who survived eight years of horrific abuse at the hands of her partner, says people don't like to interfere and "poke their noses in" other people's business.

"I wish they would," she says. "I really wish they would. It's not being nosey and it could save someone's life."



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