June 20, 2017
Family violence needs concerted response


The Family Violence Death Review Committee says while Maori victims and offenders lived in the most deprived areas, non-Maori deceased and offenders lived across all levels of deprivation.
The committee's latest data report shows there were nearly 200 family violence deaths between 2009 and 2015, with intimate partner violence deaths making up almost half of these deaths.
Chair Dr Jacqueline Short says preventing and addressing family violence has to stop being the role of a few and start being the responsibility of many.
She says the deaths are preventable, as every day individuals and agencies work with people experiencing or perpetrating violence and there are multiple ways to intervene before a death occurs.
As well as more support of child and adult victims, their families and whanau, she recommended working with violent men and their communities in ways that respectfully challenge them to take responsibility for their behaviour and be the parent their family and whanau needs.
Dr Short endorsed the work of the Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence, which has led to an overhaul of family violence laws and includes previous committee recommendations, including making strangulation a family violence crime
The data report found Maori are over-represented as victims and offenders in all family violence deaths.
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