28 November 2014

People’s Blueprint – Both Good News and a Wake-Up Call

The Patron of the Glenn Inquiry, Dame Catherine Tizard, says there is some good news in The People’s Blueprint, after the shocking picture painted six months ago in The People’s Report.

“The People’s Report disabused us of any illusion that we might be making good progress towards solving the problem of family violence in New Zealand,” Dame Catherine says.

“I confessed at the launch of The People’s Report that I found reading it a disturbing experience. The stories in it were shocking enough but the fact that they were first person accounts, conveyed with courage and the raw feel of personal experience, had a profound impact.

“It gave us the bad news in terms we couldn’t hide from. It told us that, from the perspective of many victims of child abuse and domestic violence, the systems and programmes we have in place to deal with the problem aren’t working. Indeed, many of them reported that their experience of the system, far from helping, had if anything re-victimised them.

“It was almost all bad news. But it made an overwhelming case for change and it started to clarify some agenda points for action.

“The good news in the Blueprint is in the way the Inquiry explores what actually works, what could work better, and how we can be sure that our interventions are effective.

“It isn’t by any means a call for a Year Zero approach – trashing everything we’ve already tried and starting again with a blank slate. Instead, it provides a detailed outline of what an integrated programme designed to break the cycle of family violence could look like. It reinforces our belief that a solution is achievable. It is a call to action.

Over the period of its work, the Glenn Inquiry has heard representations from many people insisting that it’s high time for a comprehensive national strategy to confront abuse and domestic violence. Such a strategy could empower friends and neighbours in the community and reach right across to government agencies and politicians on the policy and law-making fronts. To make a difference, it must involve all of us.

“This report is the blueprint of the strategy we must now commit to work through and bring into effect.”

ENDS

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