There is a need to hold perpetrators to account for their abusive behaviour.

This is set out in the National Plan to end Violence against Women and Children. Men's behaviour change programmes are a key component of the broader strategy to hold men accountable for their actions and prevent future abuse.

While there has been an increase in funding for these programmes in recent years, there is still limited understanding of whether perpetrators engage in these programmes and why.

Our research, released today, provides new evidence on what is needed to improve the efficacy of behaviour change programmes with the goal of improving women and children's safety.

Our study

For this study, we interviewed and surveyed men who had participated in a behaviour change programme to understand what their experiences were like.

We also interviewed family members of participants and practitioners who deliver the programmes. While data collection was conducted in Victoria, our findings are relevant to all Australian states and territories.

We found engagement is influenced by many factors, including how ready individuals were to change their behaviours and attitudes, how motivated they were, what referral pathways they had come through, and what external support systems they had in place.

In our interviews, many victim-survivors were sceptical about "engagement" and what it means.

Family members often pointed out the need to distinguish between attendance, engagement and completion. They noted each of these concepts refer to different things, and that one does not imply the other. Programme completion, for example, should not be construed as success.

Most family members questioned whether participants ever genuinely engage with a programme.

Housing impacts engagement

Our study sought to better understand what factors impact a person's level of engagement in a behaviour change programme.

We found that housing instability is a key risk factor for disengagement.

Housing stability is crucial for programme eligibility and for supporting attendance, engagement and programme completion. Practitioners reflected that where men do not have stable accommodation they are more likely to skip group sessions and exit the programme early.

It is then highly challenging to monitor and manage their ongoing risk where no fixed address is provided.

There was clear recognition among practitioners that there are limited housing supports available for people who use violence, placing a burden on men's services to identify accommodation options for programme participants.

Court referrals and issues with motivation

Our study identified significant challenges to engaging men who are required (mandated) by the court to attend a behaviour change programme. This is a main referral pathway. We need to understand how it can be more effectively used.

Practitioners reflected that court-mandated participants often have low attendance and engagement with programme content.

This was confirmed by the family members we interviewed who spoke about how participants who were mandated to go to a programme often didn't want to take responsibility for their actions.

These participants were often seen as motivated primarily by self-serving outcomes, such as gaining access to children, complying with court orders or avoiding further criminal justice intervention.

There was a perception these men were not genuinely motivated to change their behaviours. Family members and practitioners viewed this as problematic. The court order might initiate attendance but did not guarantee longer-term engagement.

This finding is perhaps unsurprising given these men had not opted to attend voluntarily.

It highlights that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and we need to understand what interventions are effective for whom and what else may be needed.

Follow-up support needed

Our study showed while programmes are a core intervention, they should not be considered the be-all and end-all.

One in four of the men we surveyed told us they were seeking additional support after completing a behaviour change programme.

One in six were planning to do another programme but were not yet enrolled. And one in 20 were already enrolled or on a waiting list for another programme.

People who use violence currently do not have consistent access to post-programme support.

This impacts the system's ability to keep perpetrators in view and support longer-term behaviour and attitudinal change.

Family members told us support after the programme is particularly important when children are involved as it can provide additional oversight.

Many practitioners recognised the value of post-programme support but noted they lacked the resources to provide this service. There needs to be better resourcing to help provide this.

What now?

Our research shows the current approach to working with perpetrators is missing opportunities to more effectively engage men in behaviour change, keep their risk visible and hold them to account.

These missed opportunities represent important moments where victim-survivor safety could be improved.

State governments need to consider expanding housing options for people who have been removed from their primary residence, potentially as part of an intervention order.

This should be seen as part of the wider strategy for people who use violence. Importantly, this should not come at the cost of providing adequate accommodation services for victim-survivors.

We need to better understand how court-mandated participants can effectively engage with behaviour change programmes or if alternative interventions are necessary to better meet their needs and hold them accountable.

We recommend that as part of holding programme participants to account, programme providers should submit a completion report to the court when a participant exits a programme.

These completion reports should be used by the courts to inform future judicial decisions involving the person using violence.

Improving current practices requires sustained funding models and a more comprehensive approach to engaging people who use violence in behaviour change.

These programmes are important, but they are only one part of a much needed suite of interventions to address domestic and family violence.

• First published in The Conversation
• Finlay Macdonald is a New Zealand journalist, editor, publisher and broadcaster.

She runs programmes to help Maori and Pacific men break cycles of violence.

New Zealand is ranked as the worst developed country in the OECD for domestic violence.

Controlling or hitting is normal

Sang-Yum is seeing more and more Pacific men coming through her programme who think it's "normal to control or hit" their partners.

Many new migrants are just learning about behaviour types that are unacceptable, she says.

She says both female victims and male perpetrators are misinterpreting certain biblical texts.

These include texts concerning "women submitting to men" or being men's property because Eve was formed from Adam's rib, for example.

Many men believe it is a woman's role "to bear children and to help him to do what he wants" Sang-Yum notes.

But there's "no justification for domestic violence" Dunedin-based Samoan Reverend Alofa Lale says. "Jesus preaches the golden rule to love one another as he has loved us.

"Jesus showed us love, so we should love one another and especially our spouses."

Sang-Yum is urging Pacific men to take responsibility to love their partners in this deeply sacrificial manner.

Equal partners

"The Bible is harmless and we don't tell people to stop believing" Sang-Yum says.

Nonetheless, her programmes examine the Biblical text in a wider context and explore abusive behaviour.

Participants also explore "what the language of love looks like. Is love hurtful and abusive?"

"After these aspects, their mindset changes and we talk about equality and love" Sang-Yum says.

By highlighting the word "partner" during sessions with Pacific domestic violence perpetrators, she's helping redefine the way men view their wives as equals.

"When you pull the text out and highlight the word partnership, it changes their thinking and we talk about equality and what this means."

Cultural shift needed

Sang-Yum says Pacific Island gender norms are challenged when people move to New Zealand, where men and women are generally seen as equal.

At the same time, men are not taught to talk about their upbringing, or their traumas. They suppress their issues because they have been taught to "just deal with it" says Sang-Yum.

It's important to have deep conversations through cultural frameworks and language, and to examine beliefs and mindsets that are not true examples of love.

How to get help

If you're in danger now:

Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.

Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.

Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.

Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)

Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)

She Is Not Your Rehab//InnerBoy App

It's Not OK: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450

Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children

Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)

Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence

Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services

White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.

How to hide your visit

If you're worried someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, follow the steps here to hide your visit. Each of the websites above also has a section that outlines this process.

Source

• RNZ

They're on a mission to educate, inform and equip parish communities to address the problem.

They put together a pilot programme, ‘Shining A Light', and ran it between March and July last year in the Sale diocese.

Critical to this programme was Sr Nicole Rotaru, a Mercy Sister, social worker and counsellor (pictured at one of the workshops).

She has many years' experience of working with victims and survivors of family and domestic violence, including children.

Rotaru hosted workshops to examine how the church can address domestic and family violence for its Catholic members. People often shared their own experiences of abuse, she says.

"A number of women felt safe to come and say 'I've experienced domestic and family violence', or 'my daughter has', or 'my friend has' and asked 'what can I do?'"

The results of the work has attracted support from Victorian Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Ms Vicki Ward MP.

Last Friday she and Bishop Greg Bennet of the Sale Diocese released a report praising the ‘Shining A Light' programme.

Report findings

The full title of the programme is "Shining A Light: A collaborative project working to build capacity for a whole-of-Church response to domestic and family violence".

The report outlines the findings of the programme, saying 127 people (89 women and 38 men) participated in workshops which focused on recognising the signs of domestic and family violence.

Participants included Church clergy, parish staff, members of religious congregations, diocesan safeguarding staff, amd other organisation volunteers and staff including those from across local social service agencies, schools and healthcare.

The report says the sessions improved participants' understanding, how to recognise the signs of domestic and family violence and the impacts on women and children.

They also learned to be more confident in starting a ‘careful conversation'; and to be aware of domestic and family violence resources in the local community and beyond.

MP Vicki Ward said ‘This is a conversation that has to happen across communities, and the work that you have done with your 127 participants and your conversations is really important, because those conversations will ripple out and will lead to other conversations.

‘We know that up to 50% of people ... still think that it happens "somewhere else", that it "doesn't happen" in their community ... schools or in their churches. And it does.

"So, to continue to have those conversations, to plant those seeds of openness ... a safe community is a strong community."

Bishop Greg Bennet agrees.

"It is a matter of pastoral care that we create within our parish communities pools of safety where people will find the courage to speak to clergy and pastoral leaders, and that our parishes will be well equipped ... [to ensure people] are safe."

Recommendations

The report's recommendations include:

• Emphasising the importance of providing ongoing support for workshop participants
• Securing resources for further work
• Suggesting follow up workshops be rolled out across every diocese in Australia
• Proposing developing communities of practice and broader organisational training initiatives
• Developing collaborative partnerships with social service organisations and ongoing training for personnel

Source

• ABC News
• Catholic Social Services Victoria

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has submitted an amicus brief in a pending Supreme Court case on a law that allows people under domestic restraining orders to be banned from carrying firearms.

"As the Church teaches, and this nation's historical traditions demonstrate, the right to bear arms is not an unqualified licence that must leave vulnerable family members to live in fear," said the bishops' amicus brief, submitted on 22 August.

"Abused victims are precisely the people whom a just government is tasked with protecting. The Second Amendment does not stand as a barrier to their safety."

Read More

Year 13 students from St Bede's College, the Catholic boys' school, were intending to dress up in white singlets, sometimes referred to as "wife beaters" before the school learned of the plan and intervened, Stuff reported. Read more

After hearing from hundreds of victim-survivors from all over the country about how the system has failed them when they sought protection and help, our birthday brings conflicting feelings of hope and heartache.

How can it be that in 2022 so many victim-survivors are forced to 'manage' ongoing family violence and abuse even after they take the brave step of escaping or telling?

In 2019, Backbone undertook a survey of 528 women who had experienced family or intimate partner violence.

The vast majority of these women had separated from the abuser, and many (57 per cent) had been separated for over six years but the violence and abuse continued.

This week RNZ ran a story detailing the experiences of Rachel* and her child. Sadly, their horrendous experience is a common one for many women and children in New Zealand.

After Rachel and her child experienced violence and abuse from her partner, the child's father, they did what we are all taught to do; they told the statutory organisations equipped to intervene and asked for help to get safe and recover.

However, the response from those organisations, the courts and their community further victimised Rachel and her child, isolated them from support and resources, placed the blame on them for what happened, accused them of lying about the violence and abuse and ultimately put them in more danger and prevented their recovery.

Thankfully many New Zealanders reading Rachel's story feel outraged.

Most of us sincerely believe that family and sexual violence is not OK.

We would expect that when it happens there should be a swift response that results in safety for the victims and accountability of the person who chooses to use violence and abuse.

What can we do?

So, what next? How can the general public and those in power ensure victim-survivors are able to access the right support at the right time, get safe and recover?

Victim-survivors have shared their requests with Backbone:

Firstly, victim-survivors want the general public, friends, family, whanau, work colleagues, neighbours and people providing services to understand more about sexual and family violence so people can provide effective and safe support whether that be emotional or practical.

Take an opportunity to learn more about the dynamics of family and sexual violence, including coercive control and grooming behaviours, and the impact of violence and abuse on victim-survivors.

Secondly, believe that violence and abuse do not stop when women separate from an abusive partner.

In our 2019 survey we found that when victim-survivors said violence and abuse had stopped, it was due to environmental changes that enabled her to have no contact rather than the abuser choosing to stop their abuse (she moved to another area, had a Protection Order, was in hiding, the abuser was in jail or had died).

However, for 47 per cent of survey participants, the violence and abuse had not stopped regardless of separation, and these women were often forced into contact with the abuser.

They described having no control over the abuser's behaviour, for example breaking into her home, emailing or texting constantly, bad-mouthing her to friends and family, making untrue allegations to Oranga Tamariki about her and using the Family Court as a new tool of abuse.

Thirdly, understand that people who choose to use violence and abuse use the current system to continue their abuse. Our system enables that behaviour.

Therefore, continually telling victim-survivors to just ask for help presumes that help is available and it works; it's often not available and the 'help' that is there can put people in far more danger.

And finally, victim-survivors want to see urgent reform of the current system and in particular the family and criminal courts.

Trying to get help has often left them further traumatised, fearful, unwell, broke, homeless, and disconnected from friends, family, whanau and their community.

Many of the women that Backbone hears from say that when they made the brave decision to leave or to tell someone about their experiences, they expected a giant safety net to extend under them and their children.

In reality though this never happened.

These women have described treatment toward them from the family and criminal courts, police, Oranga Tamariki, WINZ, immigration, 'helping' agencies and some in their communities and said it has felt like more abuse on top of what they already experienced.

Continually fighting for safety takes a very heavy toll financially and in terms of their health affecting their ability to work or cope at school, have a home, take part in social activities and feel connected.

The Family Court is one important part of our system that stands in front of safety for many women and children.

In 2018 and again in 2021 the United Nations CEDAW Committee was so concerned about the Family Court's response to women and children who had experienced family violence, it recommended a Royal Commission of Inquiry be held. Successive New Zealand governments have refused.

Victim-survivors tell Backbone that Family Court orders and proceedings force them into ongoing contact with an abusive ex-partner via unsafe parenting orders, orders preventing her and the children from relocating to another region where they might be safer and have access to better support, employment or housing, or forcing them into proceedings with the abuser lasting years and providing opportunities for ongoing abuse via the legal system.

It's hard to imagine why the Family Court would actively enable ongoing violence and abuse toward victim-survivors and children.

However, the culture of the court, the beliefs and myths that circulate among many professionals that work in it, often paint victim-survivors with harmful stereotypes - that they are lying about the abuse, are mentally unwell and are trying to get revenge on their ex-partner and poison their children against the other parent.

These beliefs frequently result in unsafe practices and decisions in both the criminal and the family court.

Family and sexual violence specialists have long called for a new approach in courts that better protects victim-survivors, including children.

Replacing the current adversarial model with one that is more investigative and specialist could make all the difference.

Rachel's story highlights numerous parts of the response system that currently fail victim-survivors and their children. And like Rachel hundreds of victim-survivors have called for a system response that is victim-survivor centred.

That means that decisions about policy, reform, programmes and services are informed by the needs of victim-survivors. Services and organisations are staffed by specialists who understand family and sexual violence, trauma and child development, they are accessible for people who live with a disability, they are culturally appropriate and are available when and where needed.

Most of all they are safe to use and result in safety and recovery.

• Deborah Mackenzie is a co-founder of The Backbone Collective and has worked in the domestic violence sector for many years.
• First published by RNZ. Republished with permission.
• *Name has been changed to protect the identity of the child involved.

Where to get help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.

Women's Refuge: 0800 733 843

It's Not OK 0800 456 450

Shine: 0508 744 633

Victim Support: 0800 842 846

HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): be 04 801 6655 - 0

The National Network of Family Violence Services NZ has information on specialist family violence agencies.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@youthline.co.nz

What's Up: online chat (3pm-10pm) or 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 helpline (12pm-10pm weekdays, 3pm-11pm weekends)

Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.

Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

While 15 per cent of Australians surveyed for the report said that they had experienced intimate-partner violence, the figure among Anglicans was 22 percent. Questioned about specific examples of abuse, 44 per cent of Anglicans said that they had suffered domestic violence, compared with 38 per cent in the general population.

Anglicans who attended church regularly were more likely to have suffered both domestic violence and spiritual abuse than less regularly churchgoing Anglicans. Eighty-eight per cent of Anglican victims, however, did not seek help from the Church.

Read More

Abuse during the crisis is increasing all over the world, he says.

Women are helping in many frontline roles helping society cope with the pandemic, he says.

Praising their efforts, he made particular mention of women in frontline roles such as mentioning doctors, nurses, police officers, prison guards and sales staff selling essential goods.

Francis also praised the many women at home helping children, the elderly and the disabled.

"But sometimes they (women) risk being victims of violence in a cohabitation that they bear like a weight that is far too heavy."

"Let us pray for them, so the Lord grants them strength and that our communities support them along with their families," he said.

In the US, domestic violence programs say they have seen increases in calls for help during the pandemic. In New Jersey alone, domestic violence calls have risen by up to 24 percent.

In Spain, one help service says calls from victims of violence increased by 12 percent in the first two weeks of the lockdown. At the same time, online consultations grew by 27 percent.

Gun control advocates in the United States are worried about the increased ownership of firearms during the pandemic, saying it could lead to more domestic violence.

In Italy, support groups are concerned that a sharp fall in official reports about domestic violence suggests women risked being even more exposed to control and aggression by a partner. Victims have more difficulty communicating during a lockdown, the support groups say.

The pope says he is praying for all countries affected by the pandemic, particularly for those with many victims. The United States, Italy, Spain and France are among those, he says, although many other countries are also suffering.

Source

• Investing.com
• Image: Real World Survivor

The refuge's six safe houses were all in lockdown so they could not take in any new women or children and Albert said it was hard to find other accommodation.

Waikato Women's Refuge -Te Whakaruruhau chief executive officer Ruahine Albert said they wanted to see more men arrested.

But as the cases of domestic violence increased it would put pressure on police and if they arrested everyone, they would run out of room in the cells.

Read more

Some say they paid for the property while their spouse abused them and paid for little or nothing.

One woman said her ex-husband was laughing all the way to the bank.

She described the legal process as an abomination.

"He refused to contribute, but now he's using the court as his weapon of choice to force me to pay property division of 50-50," she said.

"They have set the ceiling so high and because domestic violence is so common in New Zealand, my circumstances, even though I'm badly injured - that doesn't constitute 'extraordinary circumstances repugnant to justice.'"

The way the law works at the moment, the woman says she's going to have to "pay twice over".

She says she "already paid during the relationship, but the way the court analyses everything I wasn't allowed to submit evidence of all of that violence and all that financial violence, because I should have sorted it out during the marriage".

"But how can you sort it out during the marriage when you're begging for your life at machete point?"

Her former husband would receive more than $400,000 if she loses an appeal against the ruling.

She would also be liable for his legal aid fees, as she represented herself because she could not afford a lawyer while paying her mortgage.

"I can't raise a loan to pay for the house a second time, because I'm not earning enough now so that this is another level of domestic violence for m"e.

"I'm going to have to pay him out and the house will have to be sold to get the money to pay him out."

A recent Law Commission report recommended the government consider the relevance of family violence to the division of property in the context of its wider response to family violence.

This would enable a court to decide if there were extraordinary circumstances that make 50-50 sharing 'repugnant to justice'. Indicators of this could include a partner's gross misconduct - when that misconduct had significantly affected the extent or value of relationship property.

Divorce lawyer Jeremy Sutton says this focus still views family violence's impact through a financial lens.

"The law is there's a no-fault principle that underpins the Property Relationships Act so there is no difference to a settlement whether there's been domestic violence or not," he says.

Sutton says the Property Relationships Act is "social legislation and people say it should reflect the increasing awareness of the damage of family violence and be consistent with other government initiatives to curtail violent behaviour."

Source

• NZ Herald
• Image: University of Canterbury

As a participant on the reality show, which will premiere on Sunday night on Three, Mansfield has wed a stranger in a non-legally binding marriage. Read more

The report says:

• Traditional village councils and the church have been complicit in maintaining the veil of silence on the issue
• The church is generally failing in its role to prevent family violence
• The church is reinforcing the patriarchal framework which underpins family violence
• Church contributions are spiralling out of control through competitiveness, and a failure of churches to control amounts, leading to undue financial pressures, which in turn trigger a greater prevalence of domestic violence

The National Council of Churches' general secretary, Reverend Ma'auga Motu, says the criticisms were unjustified as church ministers play a big part in addressing issues relating to domestic violence.

"How insulting are the findings of this report, we have been working with the Ministry of Women to conduct consultations in the villages, through the church ministers."

"It is disheartening to read about the hard work of church ministers being degraded by this report."

The setting up of a Family Violence Prevention Office is the lead recommendation, out of 39, made in a report.

Recommendations directed at the churches include:

• Churches increasing their capacity to deal with domestic violence
• Preventing placement of victims in situations that risk further harm
• The need to consult and establish a national guideline for church ministers when dealing with victims and perpetrators of family violence
• Traditional village councils and churches providing backup for a government-led strategy

Source

• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

One of the 39 recommendations in its report is for a government-led response supported by the church and village.

Dr Mercy Ah Siu Maliko says the church must change to be a better support to all victims of domestic violence.

She said in Samoa, 99.8 percent of the population are members of a church. This gives church leaders invaluable access to a community.

"Church leaders have a prophetic role in breaking the silence on domestic violence."

Maliko said that instead of acting as a kind of conscience for the people, the church has been tolerating domestic violence.

She said women who do disclose their abuse to someone may find the church an unsympathetic ear.

"Telling them to pray more, forgive, kiss and make-up is not enough."

While little has been documented on church responses to domestic violence, Maliko's research has identified a basic blueprint for how churches across Samoa have been responding.

She learned the attitude of "keeping our front lawn tidy" and not exposing the perpetrator of violence is a key contributor to allowing the issue of domestic violence to continue being swept under the rug.

Maliko is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Otago and Piula Theological College, and is considered a pioneer in the field of public theology, especially as a woman.

She was speaking at the 4th Samoa Conference in the first week of September.

The report found nine out of 10 people in Samoa experience violence in the home.

Six out of 10 women experience intimate partner violence and one in five is raped.

Source

• sobserver.ws
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

Assistant Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu made his appeal to delegates at the church's annual conference in Suva on Friday.

He asked for their support in regard to crimes against women and children and in the fight against drugs.

He said fighting crime could be helped by the churches using their networks to spread information the police have.

Tudravu said women and children were the vulnerable groups when it came to physical and sexual abuse.

"It is affecting the members of the community and they are part of the church, so the gospel should be related to the reality on the ground.

"You bring the Bible, you teach about the Bible, you teach the gospel and you relate it to the environment that we live in and that should be done."

Tudrava also sought the assistance of the churches in the fight against drug abuse, particularly marijuana.

He said that new developments had emerged in the campaign against marijuana.

"A trend that is coming up that is really surprising when you mention the Lau Group is marijuana cultivation there, but now it is coming up."

He said it was a concern and that is why the police have asked church elders to take the awareness programme to the members of the community.

Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho also addressed the deleagtes.

He told them about the toll that methamphetamine addiction is having on Fijian children.

"If we don't try to combat this then it will cause chaos, especially in a small country like ours," he said.

Qiliho said the church also had its role to play in trying to combat drugs in Fiji.

Source:

• fijisun.com
• fijisun.com.fj
• Source: fijisun.com.fj

Mates and Dates is a programme for secondary school students.

It is aimed at teaching young people healthy relationship skills and behaviour to help prevent sexual and dating violence.

TWT says sexual violence, like so many forms of violence experienced by Maori, will not be reduced by programmes like Mates and Dates.

In a press release, they say the money would be better invested in culturally appropriate teacher-led sexuality education in schools.

TWT says Mates and Dates is unconnected to the realities of Maori and fails to draw on the wealth of historical and contemporary Maori knowledge and practices associated with healthy relationships.

What is required is an evidence-based national plan for culturally appropriate sexuality education.

There are programmes underway in some schools where teachers are already addressing consent and sexual violence as part of comprehensive sexuality education.

However, a lack of specific policy, funding and the political ‘will' to lead the charge is prevent the programme from being rolled out nationally.

This month the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has published its Concluding Observations on New Zealand's 8th Periodic Report.

Among the observations were:

• The high level of gender-based violence in New Zealand, especially domestic and sexual violence
• The low levels of reporting of violence within Maori communities - only 20% of family violence and 9% of sexual violence is reported
• The lack of culturally appropriate approaches and distrust in public authorities
• This lack prevents Maori and other ethnic minority women from seeking protection from domestic and sexual violence

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• tewhariki.org.nz
• acc.co.nz
• nzfvc.org.nz
• Image: laraphillips.co.nz

As we age, we become the accumulation of a life's worth of wisdom and experience.

Unfortunately, the price of that wisdom is too often an increased vulnerability by other means.

Elder abuse is, in many ways, the hidden face of the domestic violence discussion Australia has been rightfully having for many years now.

Whereas we often think about it in terms of intimate partner violence, intergenerational violence and exploitation is something we are only now beginning to consider in similar terms.

Friday is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and perhaps there is a simple, pertinent question to put forward: are you aware that, as best we can tell, 167,000 people face some form of elder abuse each year in Australia?

I say "as best we can tell" because the data is hardly comprehensive, in no small part because of almost certain underreporting.

An older person having problems with their family may be afraid to seek help or report it, or not know where to go for help, or perhaps even not think to seek help in the first place.

Since leaving the Human Rights Commission and joining Justice Connect, I have encountered story after story of older Australians dealing with abuse in its many forms.

I've heard of women like Margot, a 73-year-old woman with schizophrenia.

She arranged for her son to return home to care for her, only for him to become verbally abusive, ridiculing and demeaning her in public.

She was unwilling to have her son removed from the home despite this, as it meant potentially making her son and grandchildren homeless.

I heard of a woman I'll call Maya, who came to Australia to spend her twilight years with her daughter. The daughter almost immediately took possession of Maya's valuables and bank account details, with which she bought herself a new car.

Under the pretext of taking her mother out for a "spin" the daughter then unceremoniously left Maya on a bench out the front of an aged care facility.

They haven't spoken since.

These stories of abuse and exploitation go beyond more widely understood, and catalogued, tales of physical violence.

Elder abuse is a complicated issue which sits at the nexus of ageing, poverty and mental health, and it requires serious, sophisticated solutions that are sensitive to the needs of the older person.

Healthcare workers are there to meet the physical and emotional needs of older people.

But that cannot be not the whole solution.

How are these dedicated nurses, physiotherapists and social workers to deal with questions of power of attorney, property or patients being pressured to change their wills? Continue reading

• Image: Daily Caring

As a mark of the country's concern, all parties in Parliament supported the introduction of Jan Logie's Domestic Violence Victims' Protection Bill.

Last week the Government parties passed her private member's Bill into law.

The new law gives victims of family violence up to ten days leave off work to deal with the consequences of violence at home.

In "God's own" country the law raises questions like,

• Why do men use violence against the person they most love in their lives?
• Why do women endure the violence sometime for many years?
• What are the effects on children where violence in the home is normalised?

The most difficult question of all is - How do we stop family violence?

As a Youth Development Agency Challenge 2000 has over 100 years of combined experience dealing with the damaging and destructive effects of family violence.

We have seen it all and it is not getting any better.

Research suggests that only 20% of domestic violence is officially reported, 80% is hidden in our community.

The same research suggests domestic violence stretches all over our country, irrespective of their culture, religion or socio-economic status.

No sector is without it.

The reported facts make for very sobering reading:

• Each year, Police are called to around 200,000 incidents of domestic violence
• Domestic violence amounts to 41% of Police work
• There are over 2,000 reported sexual victimisations against a child 16 and under every year
• Women apply for over 5,000 family violence protection orders every year
• There are 5,000 arrests of men (sometimes the same man several times) for breach of those orders every year
• Police arrest 6,000 men for "male assaults female"
• Women's refuges get 73,000 crisis calls a year; 2,500 women and children stay in safe houses
• 1 in 3, nearly 35% of women, who have ever been in a relationship, report sexual or physical violence, and when psychological or emotional abuse is factored in, this figure increases to 55%
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 10 men report having been sexually abused as a child.
• Challenge 2000 data suggests that 1in 5 men have been sexually abused as a child
• 20% of females and 10% of males report have had unwanted sexual contact in the last 12 months
• Between 2009 and 2015 there were 92 deaths of women from family violence, 98% of these women had a history of ongoing violence and abuse
• In that same time, there were a total of 183 domestic violence deaths
  Of these 54 of the remaining victims were children and the rest other family members.

This is the very sobering reality of domestic violence in our nation, and while a complex issue facing our communities, it doesn't have to be this way.

Despite these ugly facts and the destructive consequences of family violence, there is hope.

At Challenge 2000 we think there are four steps we can all take to change these statistics and rebuild our country.

Embrace non-violence

It is never acceptable to physically abuse, sexually abuse, intimidate, harass, threaten or hurt a person, or psychologically or emotionally abuse, or damage the property of anyone.

Never allow a child or young person to see or hear any of these behaviours.

Show respect

Respect and love yourself, each family or whanau member and your neighbours and friends.

Speak and act with love. Use supportive language and if frustrated or angry walk away.

Never touch another person in anger and without respect for their dignity.

Be Family aware

Be aware of what is going on in your families.

Speak out and seek support if you get that gut feeling that all is not well with family members or you, yourself, are not behaving in a loving, positive way.

Get involved in the community

Domestic violence is a community issue, yet we often think it is none of our business.

At Challenge 2000 we suggest each of us do our bit to make a difference in our communities, and gets involved in supporting others; it is your business as a member of the community.

Please act if you are concerned.

Suspect family violence?

If worse comes to worst and if you suspect domestic violence we suggest two responses.

If there is immediate danger: Contact the police on 111.

Or if you are concerned about children not in immediate risk: Contact Oranga Tamariki on 050832459.

• Steve O'Connor QSM is the Director of Youth Development Agency Challenge 2000. He has spent over twenty years as a front line police officer in Wellington and spent many years as a youth aid officer. For a period of two years, every family violence death in NZ came across his desk. Steve has worked at a national level to improve police response to family violence in the hope of saving more lives and making a difference to victims.

This is in response to research conducted by the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre which suggests that 64 percent of Fijian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical or sexual abuse meted out by their husbands or partners.

Break the Silence Sunday, an initiative of the Anglican church, was observed in Fiji's Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Salvation Army, Orthodox churches and at some independent evangelical fellowships.

The message is also being carried on television.

On Sunday, Fiji's 6 pm news carried a 60-second video clip in which the leaders of these churches affirmed that male and female are created equal by God - and that violence against women and children "is a sin." Click here to watch the video.

The video will be rebroadcast during primetime news every night for the three weeks leading up to Human Rights Day on December 10.

And if viewers didn't get the message during the news hour, the video clip will then be re-screened four times later in the evening until December 10.

The video will also screen before every film showing in Suva's 10 Damodar movie theatres, in Lautoka's four theatres and in Nadi's two until December 10.

The proposal for Break the Silence Sunday originated from the Christian network Talanoa, an alliance of Fijian women's groups and churches convened by the House of Sarah - an organisation hosted by the Diocese of Polynesia that delivers a range of services designed to end violence against women and children.

In September last year, Archbishop Winston Halapua urged the various denominational leaders in the Fiji Council of Churches to observe their own "Break the Silence Sunday" - and he also proposed a video campaign.

He got 100 percent support for that too - and the Methodist Church of Fiji's Communication Department then set about producing the video and booking slots for it to be shown on TV and in the movie theatres.

While Break the Silence Sunday is a Fijian move, the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia also observed it in its Samoan, Tongan and American Samoan churches.

Source

• Anglican Taonga
• Fiji Times
• Image: YouTube

Chang also acknowledged their partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Court which has referred many of the many cases to them to address.

The counselling programme organised by SVSG has been hailed a success. 700 men and women have graduated from the programmes which began in 2014.

"The programme is based primarily on counselling, a foreign concept to our people, but a support that is greatly in need for our efforts to end violence in our homes," said Chang.

"It also includes anger management, couple counselling, alcohol and drug counselling, stress management and counselling on family issues."

SVSG was established in 2005. Its mission is to provide an integrated, personalised and professional service to all victims of crime.

The organization was set up on a dream of a young, single lawyer who identified the difficulties faced by victims who do not have support from family members.

It was founded to care for, support and help victims of sexual crimes but, after the first few cases it handled, SVSG saw that victims in other areas also sought help.

SVSG's work now extends to victims in any area of need, whether it be from domestic violence, from harassment in the workplace, or from poverty.

Last month SVSG was awarded the Samoa Public Service Innovation & Excellence Team Award for "Most Effective Collaborative Partnership".

The Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration nominated the organisation for the award in recognition of SVSG's work with the Courts.

Source

• Samoa Observer
• Samoa Victim Support
• Facebook
• Image: Facebook

Tagaloatele Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop said people had been saying old family values of fa'asamoa have weakened and it's now time to go back to traditions like evening family prayers.

She said the Commission would be recommending an agency to disseminate uniform messages on family violence.

Tagaloatele said it was also felt the public health system should be the agency to deal with domestic violence.

Parents needed to engage with their children and stop normalising family violence. Families also needed to feel less pressured by church and fa'alavelave or big family events.

She said men and women had different knowledge and strengths but it did not mean one gender had control over the other.

Public presentations to the Commission have revealed that domestic violence is a real problem and on the rise.

Many presentations indicated that domestic violence has become normalised in Samoan society.

The Samoa Observer reported that the country's attorney general, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, told the Commission that while there are "strong legislation and protective laws" in place, the question is whether they are being implemented.

He spoke of the No Drop Policy which was introduced in 2013, but said the implementation of such protective laws depends on social attitudes.

Tagaloatele taught at the University of the South Pacific Alafua School of Agriculture in Samoa for over 15 years.

She has held posts with UNDP, UNIFEM and UNESCO and worked with national planning offices and NGOs in most Pacific countries before her return to New Zealand in 2006.

In 2009 she became inaugural Professor of Pacific Studies at the Auckland University of Technology and has been teaching, researching and publishing on Pacific development issues.

Source

• RNZ
• RNZ
• AUT
• Samoan Biographies
• Image: c.tadest.com