Encouraging Māori to have their say on family violence laws

The Māori Party urges whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori to have their say on the wide-ranging review of family violence laws.

“We know family violence has a devastating impact on our tamariki and whānau so it’s critical that we ensure our views are heard,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox.

The discussion document covers areas like protection orders, making family violence offences more visible, better information sharing across agencies and creating additional pathways to resolving family violence.

“The Māori Party would like to introduce new legislation (the Prevention and Protection from Family Violence Act) that would explicitly state that whānau violence, in all its forms, is unacceptable. We believe that family violence is an intolerable violation of human rights,” she says.

While the legislative review deals with the hard-end of the problem, it is part of a government-wide effort to reduce family violence.

“We’re pleased to see the Government take a whānau ora approach to tackling family violence and working hard to break down the silo mentality of government agencies,” says Māori Party Co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell.

“We know whānau violence is often intergenerational so we will continue to strongly support programmes like ‘E Tū Whānau’ and ‘Pasefika Proud’ that are changing people’s lives for the better.

Submissions on the review of family violence laws close on 18 September 2015.

ENDS

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