November 17, 2022
Family violence numbers grow
The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Marama Davidson, says latest police figures just scratch the surface of the problem.
Police reported they investigated 175,573 reported family harm incidents in the year to June.
Assault on a person in a family relationship now represents about two thirds of reported serious assaults and the percentage is growing.
Ms Davidson says about 80 percent of family violence is still unreported – and Māori women are disproportionately affected.
It’s unacceptable that anyone of any gender is impacted on by family violence but Maori women bear a particular burden and then what’s even worse, when Mari women do seek help they are further traumatised by the system whether that’s courts, police, corrections, health and so on and so forth,” she says.
Ms Davidson says unreported violence can lead to more violence, as people aren’t able to properly deal with their trauma and heal.