Family violence: A homegrown epidemic in NZ
done, including installing billboards emblazoned with ‘‘it’s not ok’’ around the Taranaki region, has raised the level of awareness of the issue and broken down the myth that ‘‘it doesn’t happen here’’.
The trust also works alongside businesses, schools and workplaces, to give advice on how to tackle the thorny issue. This includes providing information about recognising the signs, tools on how to respond and what help is available.
Beaumont says employers seeking guidance on what they can do has been one of the biggest shifts she has seen.
‘‘Ten years ago, unheard of,’’ she says.
But to make substantial headway, a significant investment in the sector, along with surety around funding for established providers is desperately needed, Beaumont says.
‘‘This piecemeal approach is not going to deal with the problem.’’
Beaumont is unapologetic about trying to keep the issue in the public eye.
‘‘Yes, we do need to talk about it before we don’t anymore,’’ she says.
People are dying and family violence is coming at a ‘‘massive cost’’ to society, she says.
‘‘There is no nice way to wrap this up and make it more palatable,’’ she says.
‘‘It’s a nasty, nasty problem. It’s vicious.’’
Dr Ang Jury, chief executive of Women’s Refuge, says there is no way of knowing if the problem is getting better or worse, based on the numbers of reports received each year. She suspects population growth also plays a role.
‘‘I don’t think it’s getting worse but I don’t think it’s getting any better,’’ she says.
‘‘Demand is certainly not dropping for our services.’’
She’s frank about how it makes her feel. ‘‘It’s depressing.’’
Refuges don’t have any waiting lists so if women are in crisis they will get the service they need. It just sometimes comes down to staff that was giving up work.
The service would like to do more but its constrained due to funding shortfalls. While a recent contract secured money for its services until 2020, Jury says the biggest issue is that there has been no increase to refuge’s baseline funding for 10 years.
‘‘It is funding for that everyday work that is suffering,’’ she says.
It means they struggle to offer competitive pay rates for skilled staff, so recruitment and retainment are issues.
Jury remains unsure what the Government has in mind to tackle family violence, as it was not specifically referenced in the election campaign.
‘‘They didn’t include family violence in that and I think that was a mistake.’’ their time to do the
She can understand to some extent why the general public might be weary of the issue.
‘‘We have been talking about this for a very long time and nothing seems to change,’’ Jury says.
But on the other hand, ignoring the problem won’t make it go away.