Amy Adams - Minister of Justice

Anne Tolley - Minister of Social Development



Dear Ministers,

Thank you for your work and thank you for the opportunity to put to you one of our gravest concerns for New Zealand's overall well-being. Our concern arises in the context of relationships in circumstances where interpersonal and domestic violence occurs - whether that violence is verbal, physical, or psychological.

We, the men and women of New Zealand who sign this petition, have a deep desire to see New Zealand quickly and decisively reach a point of equity in dealing with victims of domestic violence.

We are acutely aware that for many victims of domestic violence there are no easy answers and they are often trapped in an abusive relationship with no desire to stay but no means to go.

Those trapped victims may out of desperation eventually lash out, which only escalates the level of domestic abuse. Many do.

We refer of course to the men (and their children) affected by violence perpetrated upon them by their partners and spouses.

We see that there are campaigns alive and well reaching out through social media and other mediums to teach the message that "Violence is Not OK". We respect that message, although we are concerned that those campaigns primarily focus on women as victims and men as perpetrators.

In 2015, NZ Police released the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey 2014. A summary of some of the findings are below:

=> 5.7% of women and 4.4% of men were likely to be the victim of a violent interpersonal offence by an intimate partner in 2013.

=> 3.8% of women and 2.7% of men were likely to have experienced threats and damage committed by an intimate partner in 2013.

=> 3.4% of women and 2.5% of men were likely to have experienced a physical offence committed by an intimate partner in 2013.

=> 1.6% of women and 0.5% of men were likely to have experienced a sexual offence committed by an intimate partner in 2013.

=> 14.4% of women and 17% of men were likely to have experienced psychological violence (or abuse) committed by an intimate partner in 2013.

It is clear that there are strong similarities between the experiences of men (who make up a lesser proportion of the population to begin with) and those of women. This is called 'gender symmetry'.

Where there are a multitude of refuges for women however, the same unfortunately cannot be said of safe havens for men and their children. Where there are domestic abuse programs for men, they are primarily concerned with men who are perpetrators of domestic violence, not victims.

We know that research suggests that only 9% of male victims will seek and obtain protection orders in attempting to keep themselves and their children safe.

We believe that the unbalanced assistance given to men who are abused in interpersonal and domestic violence situations is a result of how New Zealand views the male victims and, as is the case in most of these situations, the female perpetrators.

We ask that you seriously consider and publicly discuss the problem of this inequality - where male victims of interpersonal and domestic (and often sexual) violence are viewed as unimportant and are rarely offered the dignity of having a safe place to go when they cannot stay any longer in the home.

We are asking for a public inquiry into the nature and extent of the problem, and for public discussion to be opened which may provide us with some options moving forward to assist these men and their children. We urgently need solutions. We will never find them if we do not look for them.

Thank you. We look forward to your release discussing how you will address this problem.