Friday the 25th of November is the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls. Every year, thousands of New Zealand women leaving violent and abusive relationships turn to Family Court to seek protection for themselves and their children. Sadly, the current dysfunctional court system not only often fails to protect them but regularly ignores or minimizes the violence and abuse they have experienced.

Practices used daily to threaten and persecute women and children in the New Zealand Family Court have been outlawed in other countries says Humans of Family Court Aotearoa spokesperson Jody Hopkinson.

"We have a judiciary which refuses to use the legislation designed to protect women and safe dads. And a government which allows children to be arrested at the behest of the abusive parent.

"Right now, the Family Court is one of the unsafest places to be if you're a woman or child in New Zealand."

Parent collective calling for zero tolerance to violence in Family Court. 

Humans of Family Court Aotearoa is a collective of parents, who have been through the trauma of Family Court. They wish to see the urgent transformation of Family Court into a system designed to protect the rights and safety of children and their parents. A system that has a zero tolerance to violence policy that underpins every decision made within its walls.

In the Family Violence Act (2018) Family violence can be defined as behaviour that appears minor or trivial when viewed in isolation, but forms part of a pattern of behaviour that causes cumulative harm, and includes coercive control, financial abuse, psychological and sexual abuse and dowry related abuse.

Statistics show women do not feel safe in Family Court

• Many of the Family Court applications filed annually (60,985 across the 2020-2021 year, up 2% from 2019-2020), involve reference to or are due to some form of partnership violence.
• 80% of women who participated in a survey conducted by Humans of Family Court Aotearoa said domestic violence or abuse occurred in their relationship before they entered Family Court.
• Over half (61%) of female respondents also said the experience of going through Family Court made them feel less safe.
• 77% of female survey respondents reported their experience with the Family Court as negative.

Why Family Court is failing to prevent ongoing violence and abuse of women by their partners?

Participants in the Humans of Family Court Aotearoa survey cite the following issues allowing this to happen:

• Lack of understanding by the Family Court of family violence
• Psychological abuse continuing during the Family Court process
• Ignoring family violence in decision making
• Breach or removal by courts of parenting and protections orders
• Children and what they want are not being heard in Family Court
• Perjury is not taken seriously and facts are often overlooked

Parents’ narratives paint a harrowing picture of the court’s tolerance of ongoing family violence and abuse.

To educate the wider community about the reality of the Family Court system, Humans of Family Court Aotearoa has collated a collection of poignant and heartfelt narratives from parents highlighting serious issues within the current system.

Since launching the billboard campaign in October, the group has been inundated by many more wishing to share their Family Court experiences. To date we have published 35 parent lived experiences. These stories can be read at the Humans of Family Court Aotearoa website on the Facebook page and new submissions are welcomed.

Sign the petition for Family Court legislation change.

Humans of Family Court Aotearoa supports the many people who have raised the call to conduct a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Family Court’s treatment of victims of family violence.

To urge the government to take this crucial step, people can sign the Humans of Family Court Aotearoa petition asking for key legislative changes to improve outcomes in New Zealand's Family Court.

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