Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Family Violence "a get out of jail free card" say SST

9th October 2019


New Zealand has one of the highest rates of child abuse and family violence in the developed world. It is a shameful statistic we have all known for years and yet the violent harm continues; the fear, the intimidation, the terror and the scars.

Many innocent children have lost their lives to the selfish hands of a family member. Innocent partners have been abused and murdered due to intimate partner violence, but sadly the numbers continue to climb.

The Government have now admitted to Newshub that there's no evidence this shameful family violence record is improving. This statement follows a renewed push on medical professionals to identify signs of harm and abuse.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/10/no-evidence-family-violence-getting-better-government.html

The Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST) National Spokesperson Jess McVicar says the domestic violence statistics in New Zealand are horrific and there needs to be a lot of changes within the Justice System before we will see a reduction in our family harm statistics. Jess said we need to stop accepting disenfranchisement and colonialism as an excuse for violent, domestic and sexual offending and we need to stop handing out home detention sentences for these offences.

“We have seen a huge rise in home detention sentences in the past year for domestic violence and sexual offending. Home Detention should NOT be used as a sentence for serious crimes”.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

In 2018 our New Zealand Courts approved 5514 Protection Order applications and in 2018 there were 4500 cases of Protection Orders being breached.

“Unfortunately the perpetrators are often breaching their sentence conditions, bail conditions and/or protection orders. By then it is too late and sadly we have another brutal assault or even worse, a homicide case.”

“The most common theme we see is an offender doing just enough to intimidate, frighten and threaten the victim, but not ‘enough’ to be arrested or incarcerated. The victim finds the courage to speak up against that one person they believed loved them, then get told there is nothing more that can be done as the perpetrator gets a ridiculous sentence of home detention.”

SST say often the perpetrators manipulate their victims to the point where leaving is just as frightening as staying. “We have watched victims fight against overwhelming exhaustion to find what strength is left to speak up against their perpetrator.”

Jess says “Our Justice system needs to recognise the long-term effects of an offender’s actions and not re-victimise the innocent and vulnerable victim by only imposing a five month Home Detention sentence thereby allowing the perpetrator to continue intimidating and threatening the victim with intimidating behaviours.”

“There has to be a point where we Stand Up and say enough is enough! Community safety must be paramount and we must protect the innocent!”ENDS

https://victimissues.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/the-innocent-victims-of-family-harm/


ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.