Pasifika leaving domestic violence behind
NAENAE’S Sina and Lupe Palu used to be at each other’s throats daily – now they spread the word against domestic violence.
The Tongan-born couple’s resolution to change their ways now appears to be part of a wider cultural phenomenon, and has left experts searching for answers as to why it is happening.
Violence at home has long been a scourge disproportionately affecting New Zealand’s Pacific Island-identifying population.
But new figures appear to show domestic violence among Pacific peoples has dropped.
In the space of five years, Pasifika people, who account for 7 per cent of the population, have gone from being among the most likely ethnic groups to experience domestic violence, to among the least.
Those who have left violence behind them say new generations are bringing change. However, some who work in the sector say it is too soon to celebrate.
In 2008, one in five Pacific Islanders surveyed in the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS) said they had experienced violence at the hands of their partners in the previous year.
Findings published this month showed that ratio has dropped to 1 in 16 experiencing at least one domestic violence incident – which includes psychological abuse – in the previous year.
The methodologies of the two surveys differ, but a Ministry of Justice expert says the results are significant.
Screaming fights and punch ups used to be a daily feature of Sina and Lupe Palu’s relationship, and the police were constantly at their doorstep.
But when they saw the effect their dysfunction was having on their children, they sought help.
Together they attended the Whakakotahitanga Domestic Violence Rehab Camp in the central North Island in April last year, where they received couple counselling and set relationship goals.
A year ago Lupe Palu told of working hard to shake the Tongan style of discipline learned from his father. He said he no longer wanted to inflict this on his own family.
Even though there is still an occasionalargument, Sina Palu said their home had remained violence free ever since.
The pair now counselled their friends and doorknocked their neighbours when they heard fights becoming violent, she said.
The latest NZCASS was in 2014 and is a snapshot of the crime its 6943 interviewees all aged 15 and over experienced in 2013.
At yesterday’s NZCASS Seminar, the survey’s project manager, Taija Peach,, of the Ministry of Justice, warned there was a margin of error at play but the drop in intimate partner violence among Pacific people appeared to be statistically significant.
‘‘There seems to be some sort of work going on in that space. I don’t know where or how or by whom – but something is changing there.’’
Massey University psychology expert Siautu Alefaio-Tugio said the findings should be taken with a grain of salt.
She had worked in domestic violence prevention with inmates and within community and faithbased programmes.
One of the problems was that the survey conflated a broad range of Pacific cultures that held different attitudes towards violence, she said.
Another was that not everyone told the truth. ‘‘There is a huge issue around shame and guilt in the family violence area.
‘‘If you’re a victim or perpetrator, who wants to step up and say they are a part of it? Not everyone is going to want to actually admit it.’’
Alefaio-Tugio said she the trend proved true.
‘‘I don’t want to pop the bubble. I’d like to believe this is good and significant – I would. But I have worked in these areas and we still have a long way to go.’’
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