National anti-violence charity Shine expands to three cities its highly successful, award-winning safe@home service

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Launches compelling interactive video on facebook showing how safe@home helps breaks the cycle of domestic violence

safe@home national roll-out

Today Shine, a national not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making homes violence free, along with Judith Collins, Minister for Justice, launch the roll out of the award-winning, pioneering safe@home service in 3 new areas – Tauranga, Manukau and Christchurch.

This new government funding to expand safe@home will cover the costs of making 300 homes safe over the next two years for victims of domestic abuse who are at high risk of serious injury or death in these three areas.

To date, Shine has a 100% success rate with safe@home in the last 4 years it has been operating in Auckland. That is, there has been no further reports of injury to any of the victims who have received the service once their home has been made safe.

It costs $3,700 to install the necessary alarms, lights, latches and locks to help make one family home safe and prevent an attack that is likely to end in homicide. Half of the homicides in New Zealand are directly related to domestic violence.

Jane Drumm, Shine’s Executive Director says,

“It costs $3.9 million for each homicide inquiry yet only $3,700 to make a house safe and prevent a homicide. Safe homes save lives and save taxpayers’ money.

In Tauranga and South Auckland, safe@home will now be offered through the Shine with Family Works partnership. In Christchurch, Christchurch Women’s Refuge will offer the service in partnership with Shine.

Launch of new interactive safe@home video

Today Shine launches through Facebook an utterly gripping, interactive video centred around a potential domestic homicide. The video’s compelling nature was evident at a recent Shine fundraising event, prompting one couple who watched it to donate $37,000 on the spot -- enough money to deliver safe@home to ten families.

The interactive video, produced in partnership with Droga5, Fatboy Films and Gladeye, gives the viewer the chance to change the ending. By choosing to donate or share the video with their friends through Facebook, they get to see the difference they’ve made by watching a better ending to what is an otherwise tragic story.

Watch the video, at www.safeathome.co.nz

Executive Director Jane Drumm says,

“We are so grateful for Government support to help us deliver safe@home in 3 new areas, to 300 more homes over the next two years. But the need is far greater. In Auckland city alone, every year there are at least 500 families at high risk of being injured or killed through domestic violence who we could keep safe with this service.”

ENDS

Shine makes homes violence free. We are a national agency, based in Auckland, providing New Zealand’s largest range of specialist services and programmes all aimed at assisting victims of domestic abuse to become safer and preferably remain in their own home.

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