Press Release: Family Violence statistics

I have just received the most recent publication of family violence stats for New Zealand. They make scary reading, especially when you realise that less than 20% of family violence and intimate partner violence is ever reported.

Consequently this is one set of statistics that I will be expecting to see rise, and rise, for several more years to come as we lift the lid and remove the barriers to confronting this insidious and destructive behaviour.

Nearly half of all homicides in New Zealand are family violence.

There were 44 family violence homicides in New Zealand in 2008 (includes murder,
manslaughter and attempted murder).

On average 14 women, 6 men and 10 children are killed by a member of their family
every year.

Police recorded 86,545 family violence incidents and offences in 2008.

Police are called to around 200 family violence situations a day - one every 7 minutes.

Police estimate only 18% of family violence incidents are reported.

Half of all violent crime in New Zealand is family violence. In 2008 this was:
• 42% of kidnappings and abductions
• 44% of grievous assaults
• 64% of serious assaults.

At least 74,785 children and young people aged under 17 were present at family
violence situations attended by Police.

84% of those arrested for family violence are men; 16% are women.

About 10 children are killed every year in New Zealand by a member(s) of their family.

Child Youth and Family received 49,063 reports of abuse that required further action in 2006.

Around 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys in New Zealand have experienced sexual abuse.

1 in 3 women experience physical or sexual violence from a partner in their lifetime
(WHO study in Auckland and Waikato).

14% of men report being assaulted by a partner in their lifetime (NZ Crime and Safety
Survey 2006).

Women’s Refuge received around 50,000 crisis calls in 2007/08, and provided services
to 11,295 women and 6,996 children.

85% of sexual violence is committed by someone known to the victim.

523 women and 53 men were admitted to hospital in 2006 due to assault or abuse by
their partner.

239 children under 15 were admitted to hospital in 2006 due to assault, abuse or
neglect.

156 people over 65 years old were admitted to hospital in 2006 due to assault, abuse
or neglect.

Half of all children killed by caregivers are Maori.

Seven times more young Maori women and four times more Maori children are
hospitalised from an assault compared to Pakeha women and children.

49% of Maori women experienced partner abuse at some time in their life, compared
with 24% of Pakeha and 23% of Pacifica women.

There were 4,511 applications for protection orders in 2007.

Each day the Courts deal with around 21 prosecutions of assault on women by men.

There were 863 prosecutions for assault on a child and a further 96 prosecutions for
cruelty to children in 2008.

The economic cost of family violence was estimated at $1.2 to $5.8 billion per year by
economist Suzanne Snively in 1994. In today’s figures that would rise to $8 billion.

Sources:
• New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse fact sheets www.nzfvc.org.nz
• Kruger, T., Pitman, M., Grennell, D., McDonald, T., Mariu, D.,Pomare, A., et al. (2004).
Transforming whanau violence – A conceptual framework. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Puni Kokiri.
• Family Violence Statistics Report (2009). Wellington, New Zealand: Families Commission.
• www.rapecrisis.org.nz
• www.stats.govt.nz
• NZ Police statistics.