Stats cast a dark shadow over White Ribbon Day
Sue MORONEY
Women’s Affairs
Spokesperson
25
November 2012
MEDIA STATEMENT
Stats cast a dark shadow over White
Ribbon Day
The revelation that family
violence related deaths in New Zealand have increased by
more than 50% since 2008, casts a dark shadow over White
Ribbon Day today, says Labour’s Women’s Affairs
spokesperson Sue Moroney.
Police annual reports reveal that there were 27 family violence deaths reported in 2011, and an OIA request received by Labour shows a shocking 67 “homicide and related offences” (includes both actual deaths and attempted murder) between 2011-2012.
“That
increase is harrowing. Any Government truly committed to
helping victims of family violence would take these figures
as an instruction to take stock, and take
action.
“Instead, under National, police have
actually stopped effectively reporting family violence
statistics and have admitted that current statistics for
family violence "offences" are no longer able to give
meaningful comparisons across time.
“Action to
halt family violence requires an understanding of the
gravity of the situation we are in. Confusing the data is
the oldest trick in the book. It’s a trick for a
government that wants to hide bad news or muddy a lack of
progress.
The statistics police are collecting as a
part of Family Violence Investigations Reports (FVIRs) are
said to be “provisional” and not in line with the
“gold standard” threshold of official crime statistics,
and as such not robust enough for public
release.
“What we do know is that
between January 2011-October 2012 there were 77,521 family
violence investigations where at least one offence occurred.
That boils down to 125 cases of family violence every day of
every week over those 20 months."
“National’s approach to family violence is characterised by the underfunding of services, including rape crisis and our frontline police.
“Women’s Affairs Minister, Jo Goodhew, needs
to be held to account for these dire statistics. Police
Minister Anne Tolley needs to front up to the needs for
proper resourcing within our police force. Both women are in
positions of power and must advocate for those in
need.
“Too many New Zealanders are dying at the
hands of their loved ones. On this White Ribbon Day I am
calling on the women who have a voice in Government, to use
it.”
ENDS