NATIONAL COLLECTIVE of INDEPENDENT WOMEN’S REFUGES INC.

MEDIA RELEASE

Domestic Violence Reporting May Rise Following Canterbury Earthquake

2010 research from the University of Victoria University has found that domestic violence reporting can double, even triple, during natural disasters.

“'While hopefully the immediate physical danger of the weekend's devastating earthquake in Canterbury is lessening, the community must remain vigilant around possible escalation in domestic violence,'” says Heather Henare, Women's Refuge Chief Executive.

“It is a sad reality that, even in times of disaster where we expect a community to pull together, domestic violence still occurs and women and children still need support from agencies like Women’s Refuge.”

The author of the research, Dr Rosalind Houghton, agrees, “.

'When natural disasters strike we found find ourselves in a situation where the call for domestic violence related services increase at the same time as a decreased capacity to respond.”' Dr Houghton notes.

“For an organisation like Women’s 'Refuge, workers for example, their staff and volunteers will be dealing with the the impact of the earthquake on their own families and friends and may have to take time off work or work shorter hours. Couple this with the fact that a significant proportion of Refuges are staffed by volunteers and you will see that Women’s Refuges will be doing more with less.”

“Likewise, Police are under extra pressure responding to general civic needs around related safety and security in the weeks after a disaster. It is easypossible for responses to domestic violence to take a slight back burner, and yet the data shows that this type of crime reporting significantly increases during disasters,”' said Dr Rosalind Houghton..

Ms Henare urges agencies, such as the Police, to remain responsive to domestic violence despite the increased demand on their services and ensure that Protection Orders and the new Police Safety Orders are still enforced in this crisis situation. .

“Research from the U.S. has shown that in the past, enforcement of protection orders has not been given the priority needed in disasters and this is problematic for women, we don’t want to see this happening in Christchurch. Women’s Refuge is committed to providing services during this traumatic event. Whilst one of Refuges in Christchurch is closed due to earthquake damage, we are utilising our local and nationwide network of Refuges to ensure appropriate cover and we want women to know that we are still working if they need us.”

Refuge services are still operating in Christchurch. Women and children who fear for their safety should call 0800 Refuge REFUGE (733 843) for support and advice.

Women’s Refuge is New Zealand’s most significant family violence organisation, with a 37 year history of providing comprehensive services for women and children

ENDS

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