Media Release:
25th August 2008

Government response to child-abuse is another Committee

On Friday 22nd August the Hon Steve Chadwick announced the appointment of members of “ The Family Violence Death Review Committee” - the brainchild of the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families back in July 2007.

Christine Davey, Sensible Sentencing Spokesperson on Drug Issues notes that it has taken 13 months to appoint the Committee, made up of members with extensive experience and understanding of family violence issues, and their first meeting is scheduled to take place in October.

Ms Davey expects that many more months – perhaps years will be spent monitoring, collecting data, reviewing, identifying trends, and coming up with ideas and solutions – and in the meantime children will continue to be the victims of violence or neglect within the family, often at the hands of substance-abusing care-givers.

She wonders why we need such a Committee when we already have a very large one, called CYF, whose job it is to protect vulnerable family members, and under whose nose these acts of violence are being committed.

Ms Davey suggests that if CYF is not capable of fulfilling their obligations, then they should be disbanded and replaced by the Wairarapa Police Force who have their own formula for saving potential victims of family violence – they identify at-risk families, and they remove the children. A simple but highly effective solution.

The time has come, she says, to stop TALKING about the problem and start DOING something about it. To focus on adult's RESPONSIBILITIES instead of their RIGHTS.
The most vulnerable members of our society need our protection NOW.

ENDS

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