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NZFVC Data Summaries 2017: Family violence reports reach record high

June 29, 2017 at 5:14 PM

*From the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse*

Police family violence investigations reached a record high in 2016, statistics published today by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse show.

Police investigated 118,910 incidents of family violence last year, an increase of more than 8000 on the year before. This is up from 110,126 in 2015 and 101,955 in 2014.

Dr Pauline Gulliver from the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse said "We don’t know whether this is due to an increase in violence or an increase in people coming forward.  However it is clear that demand on services continues to increase."

"Responding to family violence accounts for 41 percent of a frontline police officer’s time."

"Intimate partner violence and child abuse do not just affect a few ‘vulnerable’ individuals, but are problems that need addressing in every community," she said.

The data summaries are a collation of family violence statistics from government and non-government agencies and research studies.

Dr Gulliver called for better resourcing for specialist family violence services and prevention programmes: "Police and the criminal justice system have received increased funding for responding to family violence in the last 12 months, however this needs to be matched by resourcing for specialist family violence services and prevention programmes in the community."

"Currently just 1.5 percent of government spend goes on violence prevention." (see p.22)

Dr Gulliver also questioned whether Police data on offences is accurately capturing the amount of family violence.

"In 2014-15, Police introduced a new data collection system which in theory improves our ability to see how much crime is family violence. However, this is currently compromised because the victim’s relationship to the offender is not being recorded in the majority of cases: in over half of physical assaults against women, and more than 80 percent of sexual assaults.

We know from other research that the vast majority of assaults against women are carried out by partners, ex-partners, family members and others known to them. So we need to ask why the Police are not capturing this information."

Key statistics show:
  • Between 2009 and 2015, there were 194 family violence deaths, with intimate partner violence (IPV) deaths making up almost half of these (92 deaths). In 98 percent of IPV death events where there was a recorded history of abuse, women were the primary victim, abused by their male partner.
  • One in three (35 percent) New Zealand women have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. When psychological abuse is included, 55 percent have experienced IPV. In the year prior to the survey, 5 percent had experienced physical and/or sexual IPV. When psychological abuse was included, 18 percent had experienced one or more forms of IPV in the last year.
  • In 2015/16, Women’s Refuge received about 73,000 crisis calls. 11,062 women accessed advocacy services in the community. 2,446 women and children stayed in safe houses.
  • In 2016, 5,461 applications were made for protection orders. 89 percent were made by women and 10 percent by men.
  • In 2016, there were 2,708 reported sexual assault victimisations against an adult over 16 years.
  • In 2015/16, Child, Youth and Family received 142,249 Care and Protection notifications. 44,689 were deemed to require further action, leading to 16,394 findings of abuse or neglect.
  • In 2015, NZ Police recorded 10 homicides of children and young people under 20 by a family member. 63 children aged 16 years or under were hospitalised for an assault perpetrated by a family member.
  • The number of Police Safety Orders issued has doubled since 2011 (from 7,133 to 15,994). PSOs were introduced in July 2010.
The data summaries cover:
  • Snapshot: one page of key data
  • Family violence deaths
  • Violence against women
  • Children and youth affected by family violence
  • Child sexual abuse
  • Adult sexual assault
  • Child sexual abuse and adult sexual violence – perpetration by gender.
For the first time, we have also published some regional data: Police Family Violence Investigations by Police District.

The data summaries should be read in conjunction with the definitions, also available on our website.

Data summaries from previous years are available on request.
 
Related information

For other sources of statistics, see the Statistics page on the NZFVC website and Recommended reading - statistics.

Media

Family violence: incidents still rising, and no 'quick fix' in sight, NZ Herald, 27.06.2017

Women needing a safety net that is not there says Backbone, Press Release: Backbone Collective, Scoop, 27.06.2017

Police investigations into family violence hit record high, Radio NZ, 27.06.2017

Record-high family violence count may be higher, Newshub, 27.06.2017

Ready Steady Learn w/ Dr Pauline Gulliver: June 27, 2017, bFM, 27.06.2017

Family Violence Reports Reach Record High, Media release: NZFVC, Scoop, 27.06.2017

Related media

Police handling of sensitive crime data causes concern, Radio NZ, 21.02.2017

October crime stats released as Police introduce new crime data reporting tool, Beehive: Judith Collins, 30.11.2016



Category: Reports