Safety for our women
Family violence is one of the biggest challenges facing all New Zealanders. Every 26 days a woman dies in the hands of someone she knows. The financial cost of family violence has been estimated at $5.3 billion per year and the human cost of family violence is immeasurable.
The extent of the family violence problem among ethnic communities is unknown, but there are many anecdotal evidence and high profile cases to suggest that it warrants attention.
As the Minister of both Women's Affairs and Ethnic Affairs, my two portfolio officials are joining forces to undertake the Ethnic Women and Intimate Partner Violence Project. This research will improve understanding of the occurrences of intimate partner violence. It will identify practical ideas and will examine good practices to meet the needs of women in ethnic communities, and raise consistent awareness of intimate partner violence in the communities.
Family violence is a subject that many find difficult to discuss openly but we cannot afford to continue to fail ethnic women who are victims or potential victims by not addressing it in a comprehensive manner.
In the mean time, Government has introduced a bill to protect the victims of family violence, which passed its second reading in Parliament last week. The bill received strong support from submitters and the select committee.
The Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill will amend the Domestic Violence Act to strengthen the responsiveness of criminal justice agencies to victims of domestic violence.
The most important change to the law is the introduction of police safety orders. Police will be able to issue on-the-spot orders to remove the alleged offender from the home for a period of up to five days. This will ensure the immediate safety of victims and provide time for them to consider their options, especially if the order is issued over long weekends or in other situations where access to the courts may be limited.
The bill has a number of other changes, such as enabling police to arrest without warrant anyone leaving the scene while a safety order is being prepared; a penalty of up to six months' imprisonment for failing to attend a court-ordered programme; and requiring a person subject to an order to surrender their firearms licence.
Another important feature is a proposal to amend the Sentencing Act to enable criminal courts to issue a protection order on behalf of the victim in cases where an offender is sentenced for a domestic violence offence - even if the victim has also applied to the Family Court.
The Government also recently introduced the Child and Family Protection Bill, which focuses on keeping children safe where there has been family violence in the home. These two bills will give police and the courts enhanced tools to give victims of domestic violence immediate protection and to help keep them safe from further violence - all part of the Government's on-going commitment to dealing with family violence in our communities.
