Media Release 10 July 2009

Voting Yes Will Not Prevent Child Abuse

Youth Against Child Abuse NZ is surprised to hear claims that voting yes will help lower New Zealand's horrific child abuse rate, particularly from youth action group Students against Violence (SAVE).

“Sue Bradford herself said that her bill was not designed to address the problem of child abuse,” says YACA spokesperson Caleb Brown. “In fact quite the opposite is a likely scenario”.

“CYFS is permitted to use force whether it is reasonable or not, to remove children from homes where the parents sometimes use smacking – it's just ridiculous,” he says. The SAVE group which advocates for a yes vote in the upcoming referendum on the "antismacking" law has got it wrong. While YACA applauds their courage in standing up against child abuse, we must not criminalise all good parents in the process.

"I admire their effort," says Caleb Brown, "But their constant criticism of the people who plan to vote No without offering any real ideas in tackling child abuse is hypocritical of what they stand for”.

YACA calls for a royal commission to be set up to look into the real causes of child abuse. "The whole country must have a chance to tackle this issue together," says Caleb Brown. YACA also calls for John Key to listen to the people of New Zealand and support John Boscawen's compromise bill which is very similar to National Party MP Chester Borrow's previously defeated “hand-smacking-only” bill.

“This would ensure that parents were no longer classed as criminals for simply giving their child a light smack.”

Both actions must be urgently adopted by the government to bring the country together in fighting child abuse and its causes.

ENDS

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