Paragraph About Judge Boshier’s Recent Stopping Violence Programme Comments

Preventing Violence in the Home says in their 13 years experience of responding to domestic violence related Police referrals, ‘’one off’’ acts of violence are extremely rare.

Judge Boshier was recently reported as saying programmes aimed at stopping domestic violence should be redesigned for one-off offenders, "if there is a one-off act of violence, which is limited to and caused by a certain context, should we really be requiring offenders to attend a program that assumes the violence is a continuous or systematic feature of the respondent's relationships?"

Spokesperson for Preventing Violence in the Home, Ms Carrington says, “Our work with the victims of offenders arrested for the first time invariably uncovers a history of abuse ranging from months to many years.“ She poses the questions “who are these mysterious one-off offenders, and exactly how many of them are there? How does one safely determine whether an incident is limited to, and caused by, a certain context and therefore not deemed a continuous or systematic feature of the relationship?”

Preventing Violence in the Home responds to approximately 500 domestic violence related Police referrals within Auckland City per month; and a quarter of these results in arrest. After an arrest, a Preventing Violence in the Home Advocate attends a callout at the victim’s home. In 13 years’ experience of responding to police referrals; situations where male offenders arrested for a “one-off” act of violence, are almost unheard of. Though incidents attended, in some cases more than 20 times, by the Police can result in no arrest; victims often disclose a history of abuse which can range between or include all forms of physical, psychological and sexual violence.

Ms Carrington welcomes any government initiative to fund the evaluation of existing Ministry of Justice approved stopping violence programs before making decisions about funding other programs, as, at present, the numbers of this (yet unqualified) type of offender appear not enough to warrant a tailored program. She also encourages evidence-based information so the Courts and service providers can make well-informed decisions about what types of programs need to be developed to better meet existing needs.

To this end a worthwhile and valid evaluation measurement of success of the existing programmes must be a long-term study that involves soliciting information from victims about whether there have been changes in the behavior of their partners/ex-partners and whether they are actually safer as a result of the programs. In order for the data to be considered valid, this research would need to rely heavily on victim reports about the history of violence within a relationship, as according to the NZ police, only 18% of domestic violence is reported to Police.

If you, a friend or family member, or a neighbour may be at risk of domestic violence or child abuse, call the toll-free Preventing Violence in the Home helpline on 0508 DVHELP (0508 384 357) for advice and support, or visit our website www.preventingviolence.org.nz and if a situation is potentially dangerous, call the Police on 111.

ENDS

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