CEDAW monitoring

Recommendation: 

 The Committee further recommends the State party to implement the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) and provide alternatives to detention to reduce the high number of Māori women detainees.

Response: 

Ministry of Justice:

Government has committed to reduce the prison population by 30 percent within the next 15 years. To prevent the numbers of women in detention growing, and to better support those that are in detention, the Government has introduced a gender- and culturally-responsive approach to managing women prisoners based on evidence of what works to reduce women’s re-offending. The rate of Māori women commencing a prison sentence decreased by 17% between 2016/17 and 2018/19 and the rate of Māori women commencing a community sentence decreased by 10%.  However, during the same period the rate of Māori women placed in custodial remand increased by 31%.  In 2018/19, Māori women were 12.7 times more likely to be placed on custodial remand than non-Māori women. 

Corrections:

A short-term commitment of the Hōkai Rangi strategy is to undertake a piece of research and analysis looking at how Ara Poutama Aotearoa can actively work towards keeping rangatahi (youth) and wāhine (especially wāhine with primary care of children) out of prison. Ara Poutama Aotearoa are partnering with Māori to deliver support services for wāhine Māori in the community.  In the Hawke’s Bay Ara Poutama Aotearoa have partnered with Ngāti Kahungunu to develop and deliver Te Waireka. This is a residential wrap around support service for wāhine being sentenced to home detention or being released on parole or released on conditions.  The Collins Road Resettlement Centre is being developed in partnership between Ara Poutama Aotearoa, the Kiingitanga and Housing New Zealand. The facility will provide accommodation and wrap around support services for up to 24 wāhine who have been released from a custodial sentence. The aim is to provide a safe environment for these wāhine while they re-establish their lives and reconnect with their children. He Kete Oranga o te Mana Wāhine is an Ara Poutama Aotearoa 10-bed residence in Christchurch which provides a therapeutic programme for wāhine in the justice system with alcohol and other drug needs.  The house can be put forward as an accommodation option for wāhine applying for bail or parole, with engagement with whānau being central to the programme. 

Wāhine Māori

Corrections: All data collected by Ara Poutama Aotearoa can be disaggregated by gender and ethnicity.  Moving forwards, under the recently created role and appointment of a Deputy Chief Executive Māori and the new Ara Poutama Aotearoa strategy Hōkai Rangi, we will be exploring ways of effectively measuring data and outcomes for wāhine Māori.

Recommendation: 

The Committee recommends that the State party adopt all necessary legislation, including temporary special measures and awareness-raising measures, to combat intersecting forms of discrimination against women, particularly in assessing health-care services and protecting their right to land ownership.

Response: 

Ministry of Justice:

The Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry will inquire into health services and outcomes for Māori, including Māori Women. The Waitangi Tribunal is about to start the Mana Wāhine Kaupapa Inquiry into claims of prejudice against Māori women arising from Crown Treaty breaches.

Wāhine Māori

Ministry of Justice: The Waitangi Tribunal’s kaupapa inquiry programme is designed to provide a pathway to hear nationally significant claim issues that affect Māori as a whole or a section of Māori in similar ways. Wai 2575 - the Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry (Wai 2575) will hear all claims concerning grievances relating to health services and outcomes and which are of national significance. There are currently over 218 claims seeking to participate in Wai 2575. Any Treaty of Waitangi claims relating to discrimination against Māori women in relation to health will be addressed as part of Wai 2575 or the Mana Wāhine Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2700). The Mana Wāhine inquiry is being led, on behalf of the Crown, by the Ministry for Women.

Recommendation: 

(a) Adopt a comprehensive and cross-party strategy on combatting gender based violence against women in accordance with general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 and ensure its consistent implementation, including by strictly applying the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill and by, inter alia, including measures that specifically protect women with disabilities that are confronting abusive care-givers.

Response: 

Ministry of Justice:

On 28 September 2018, the Government announced the formation of a Joint Venture of chief executives of 10 Government agencies as the central agent to deliver an integrated, whole-of-government approach to family violence and sexual violence. The Government also established an Interim Te Rōpū (the Māori partnership group) to assist the Crown, Ministers and the Joint Venture of chief executives.

The Joint Venture work programme aims to build a joined-up and effective family violence and sexual violence system to prevent violence from occurring, intervene earlier and more effectively to reduce the harm it causes, and break the cycle of re-victimisation and re-offending.

A core function of the Joint Venture is to set a clear direction for the Government’s commitment to eliminate family violence and sexual violence by developing a collective national strategy, designed in partnership with the sector, Māori, and the wider public. The Government has committed to develop a National Strategy and Action Plan to galvanise our collective efforts to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, working in partnership with Māori.  This will guide priorities for government agencies and can guide practical decisions at the front-line in communities. This strategy was a Budget 2019 initiative and is a priority action area within the Government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy.

Police:

Police, on behalf of the Family Violence and Sexual Violence Joint Venture, hosts the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) initiatives in Canterbury and Waikato, and Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke (WNPH) sites in a number of areas across New Zealand. Both of these responses are designed to ensure victims, perpetrators, families and whānau receive the help they need when they need it in relation to family violence. 

Corrections:

Probation Officers and Case Managers are provided with family violence training.  Ara Poutama Aotearoa is also party to family harm interagency groups, working alongside local agencies to coordinate interagency responses to family harm.

Ara Poutama Aotearoa has contracts for non-violence programmes for both men and women on community-based sentences and orders.  Ara Poutama Aotearoa and the Ministry of Justice recently worked together to align their contracts for non-violence programmes for perpetrators of family violence.  

Ara Poutama Aotearoa also has adult and child sex offender special treatment programmes for males in prison as well as contracted child sex offender treatment for people assessed as medium to low risk in the community.

Ara Poutama Aotearoa also provides programmes for men in prison which address family harm, including Special Treatment Units for men in prison with a history of violent offending, who have a high risk of reoffending.  

Ara Poutama Aotearoa plans to deliver a Healthy Relationships course to women in our care. Although not specifically focused on family violence, the course aims to develop and strengthen relationship skills women have to assist in making informed relationship choices.

A planned initiative of Hōkai Rangi is to develop a gang engagement framework, with reducing family harm the primary focus.

Recommendation: 

(b) Conduct public awareness-raising programmes in collaboration with teachers and the media, including social media, to promote understanding of the criminal nature of gender-based violence against women and encourage victims and witnesses to report violence.

Response: 

Ministry of Justice:

Sexual violence prevention initiatives have been developed or expanded, including:

• Workforce development – development of mainstream principles of practice and workforce capability. These will be the first ever standards that focus on the primary prevention of sexual violence.

• The review and development of appropriate policies and training of residential assistants, student and staff leaders towards a comprehensive approach to sexual violence prevention on tertiary campuses.

• Development of a web based resource to assist with planning and evaluation of programmes.

• Personal safety programmes for pre-school age children.

• Extended delivery of healthy relationships education for secondary school students (years 9-13), Kura Kaupapa (Maori schools) and alternative education settings.   In Budget 2019, the Government increased its investment in three innovative MSD initiatives that are working to prevent family violence by changing the attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours that sustain violence, and by supporting community-led responses.

These initiatives are:

• E Tū Whānau – a kaupapa Māori initiative to positively change behaviour, attitudes and norms as a means to improve wellbeing and reduce family violence. E Tū Whānau also works with refugee and migrant communities as they value the strength-based approach and the focus on increasing wellbeing.

• Pasefika Proud – a social change initiative grounded in Pacific values, that works with the eight key Pacific nationalities in New Zealand in order to prevent family violence.

• The Campaign for Action on Family Violence – which includes the current It’s not OK campaign, refocused on supporting positive behaviour change for men using violence, and a new campaign focused on safe relationships for young people.

MSD’s approach is evidence informed, culturally responsive and relevant to the New Zealand context. The strength of each initiative is that they invite communities to take ownership and create solutions that work for them.

Education:

Addressing domestic violence requires working in new and different ways across government, with all communities. Through the new Wellbeing Budget process, 10 government agencies have taken shared responsibility for this issue through a joint venture, and developed a single, whole-of-government package of initiatives to address New Zealand's long-term record on family and sexual violence.

The Ministry of Social Development leads public awareness campaigns (for example; It's Not Okay, E Tu Whānau) so they should be identified as a responsible agency.

Addressing family and sexual violence and better supporting survivors is a major feature of the Wellbeing Budget, with the Government delivering the largest ever investment in family and sexual violence and support services.

The Budget package delivers more support services to more New Zealanders, major campaigns aimed at stopping violence occurring and major changes to court processes to reduce the trauma victims experience through a $320 million package.

The family and sexual violence package, which sits across eight portfolios, includes funding and support for:

One million New Zealanders covered by Integrated Safety Response sites (Christchurch and Waikato), and 350,000 by the Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke and Whiria Te Muka sites (in Gisborne, Counties Manukau and Kaitaia).

24/7 sexual violence crisis support services for up to 2,800 children and young people every year, and an additional 7,700 adult victims and survivors from 2020/21.

Funding for major advertising campaigns and intervention programmes to reduce violence occurring.

Using video victim statements to reduce trauma for up to 30,000 victims of family violence every year, and reduce time spent in court.

Enabling victims of sexual violence to give evidence in court in alternative ways in order to reduce the risk of experiencing further trauma, and providing specialist training for lawyers in sexual violence cases.

Specialist training for lawyers in sexual violence cases.

Improving the wellbeing of male victims and survivors of sexual violence through peer support services – up to 1,760 from 2020/21 onwards.

Dedicated funding for a kaupapa Māori response to sexual violence.

Training for health practitioners in District Health Boards.

Police:

Police’s healthy relationships initiative for senior secondary students, Loves-Me-Not (LMN), is a whole-school approach to promoting healthy relationships and preventing unhealthy behaviour in relationships.  It includes a one-day workshop delivered by a three-person team (teachers, police officer, NGO representative) in which year 12 and/or 13 students discuss healthy and abusive behaviour in relationships.

LMN is not gender-based but a session on statistics within the workshop outlines the preponderant impact of unhealthy relationships on women. 

In 2018, LMN was implemented in more schools (126) and more classes (565) which continued the steady upwards trend of previous years. The past year’s LMN evaluation revealed the highest-ever percentage of positive process results and the lowest-ever percentage of neutral or negative results.

Police is not conducting any public awareness-raising programmes in relation to gender-based violence against women. However, Police is active on social media around milestone events such as White Ribbon day and major family violence forums. 

Recommendation: 

(c) Strengthen capacity-building and awareness-raising campaigns as well as training for judges, law enforcement officials and welfare personnel on all forms of gender-based violence and abuse and the specific protection needs of migrant women, with a view to ensuring that victims are under no circumstances forced or put under pressure to accept mediation and alternative dispute resolution methods in lieu of criminal proceedings against perpetrators

Response: 

Police:

The Detective Qualifying course has a three hour session on demystifying Islam. This builds an awareness regarding gender-based violence and issues for migrant women. This is followed by scenario-based exercises incorporating these issues and consolidating the learning. Detective Development Programme E-Modules has a component on people trafficking, an associated issue. In 2020 a review of the Detective Development Programme E-Modules will be conducted. Relevant legislation will be included in this review. This creates an opportunity to further develop this topic.

Alternative dispute resolution methods are a key component of Police’s strategy to reduce reoffending by providing a more humane and effective approach than prosecution in court. While they are not available for family harm-related offending, they are offered in cases of common assault, which may be against a woman.

Victim’s opinions are sought before a decision is made to refer to any alternative dispute resolution method. They must give informed consent to be offered the opportunity to take part, and can refuse to take part. As the alternative resolution can go ahead without the victim, there is no pressure to participate.

Ministry of Justice:

New Zealand Police identified that family violence accounts for 40% of front-line staff time and have developed a new approach to improve their response to harm within the family including increasing staff training, new mobile technology for investigating family harm and new codes of practice for front-line responses.  

The Ministry of Justice is implementing a workplace Wellbeing Family Violence Policy, which includes training for all staff about the signs of family violence and the pathways to help

In New Zealand’s system of government, the principle of judicial independence requires that the Government does not direct the Institute of Judicial Studies as to the provision of educational resources for the Judiciary. The Institute of Judicial Studies’ 2020 prospectus includes education programmes on how to navigate increasing diversity in the courtroom, how to address communication vulnerability in the trial setting, and family violence risk factors and dynamics.The Ministry of Justice has implemented a workplace Wellbeing Family Violence Policy, which includes training for managers, and information for all staff about the signs of family violence and the pathways to help. Over 2019 and 2020 all frontline Ministry of Justice staff (more than 2000 staff) are participating in training about how to respond safely and appropriately to victims of family violence and sexual violence.

Recommendation: 

(d) Allocate resources aimed at developing a comprehensive prevention strategy for gender-based violence against women.

Response: 

Police family harm policy informs the prevention first strategy to reduce gender-based violence against women. The Family Harm Policy and Procedure, Family Harm Quality Assurance Framework, Protection and Property Order, Police Safety Orders, Information Sharing, Victim Relocations, Forced and Under Age Marriage chapters of the Police Instructions were all updated in May 2018 after 5F – Safer Whānau – Police Practice was rolled out. This policy was further updated in July 2019 as a result of the Family Violence Act 2018 which introduced three new offences of strangulation, assaults person in a family relationship and coercion to marriage / civil union.

Ministry of Justice:

The Government has established a Joint Venture to lead a whole-of-government response to family violence and sexual violence. This creates a single point of accountability and leadership for these shared outcomes.  The Chief Executives of ten government agencies (Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Health, Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Police, ACC and the Department of Corrections) are the governing body of the Joint Venture of the Social Wellbeing Board, and the Joint Venture is supported by a business unit hosted by the Ministry of Justice.

Budget 2019 provided $320.9m over four years for 20 FVSV initiatives across nine Votes ($311.4 million operating and $9.5 million capital). This funding has been used to deliver initiatives in five broad areas:

Increasing Investment in Prevention ($47.8 million over 4 years)

Increasing funding for current national and community-led approaches, extending coverage to new communities (including rainbow, disability, elderly and new migrant), and focusing on action in the early years for children.  Increased funding has been provided to three innovative MSD initiatives (E Tū Whānau, Pasifika Proud and It’s not OK) that are working to prevent family violence by changing the attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours that sustain violence, and by supporting community-led responses.

Safe, Consistent and Effective Responses to Family Violence in every Community ($79.8 million over 4 years plus $4.5 million capital)

Learning from existing community-based pilots (Integrated Safety Response, Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke and Family Violence Interagency Response System), strengthening family violence responses in every community, and developing proposals for genuinely integrated responses in every community, and improving screening for family violence in the health sector.  As part of this, the Integrated Safety Response sites in Christchurch and Waikato have been funded for the next two years.

Growing Essential Specialist Sexual Violence Services ($131.1 million over 4 years)

Increasing funding rates and increasing volumes funded for essential specialist sexual violence services (including crisis support services, services for male survivors, and services for non-mandated adults displaying harmful sexual behaviour) and also expanding the coverage of services – including services designed specifically for children and youth, investing to grow specialist sexual violence services in Kaupapa Māori providers, and providing specialist psycho-social support for victims of sexual violence through the court system.

Improving the Justice Response to Sexual Violence Victims ($32.8 million over 4 years plus $5.0 million capital)

Through a package of legislative reforms (a Sexual Violence Legislation Bill was introduced in November 2019), responding to recommendations from the Law Commission’s 2015 report on the justice response to victims of sexual violence.

Supporting the leadership, governance and accountability of the Joint Venture ($20.0 million over 4 years)

Co-ordinating action to eliminate family violence and sexual violence across government, with communities, and in partnership with Māori – through the Joint Venture and a dedicated business unit. Developing a National Strategy and Action Plan to galvanise collective efforts to eliminate family violence and sexual violence.

Wāhine Māori

The Police family harm strategy includes consideration of violence against wāhine Māori.

Recommendation: 

(e) Adopt criteria and guidelines for the provision of victim-oriented and culturally appropriate legal, psychosocial and economic assistance, that recognizes the special needs of Māori and ethnic minority women and girls, while ensuring that cultural sensitivity does not disregard the State party's obligations under the Convention.

Response: 

There are no overall criteria or guidelines, however there are some initiatives to provide culturally appropriate services. In Budget 2019, the Government increased its investment in three innovative MSD initiatives that are working to prevent family violence by changing the attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours that sustain violence, and by supporting community-led responses.

These initiatives are:

• E Tū Whānau – a kaupapa Māori initiative to positively change behaviour, attitudes and norms as a means to improve wellbeing and reduce family violence. E Tū Whānau also works with refugee and migrant communities as they value the strength-based approach and the focus on increasing wellbeing.

• Pasefika Proud – a social change initiative grounded in Pacific values, that works with the eight key Pacific nationalities in New Zealand in order to prevent family violence.

• The Campaign for Action on Family Violence – which includes the current It’s not OK campaign, refocused on supporting positive behaviour change for men using violence, and a new campaign focused on safe relationships for young people.

Recommendation: 

(f) Collect and report to the Committee disaggregated data on the number of cases of violence against women that have been investigated and that have led to prosecutions, including information on the sanctions imposed on perpetrators; Women victims of violence who have been provided with legal assistance and relevant support services; Women victims of violence who have been compensated.

Response: 

Police:

On 30 November 2016, NZ Police launched policedata.nz to provide easy access to Police crime data through a number of interactive reports that can be accessed from this page. Data are updated in these reports on the last working day of every month. The data Police collects can be disaggregated by offence type, sex, relationship of offender to victim and ethnicity. The reports include the number of proceedings against offenders during a relevant period and provide an overview of trends in proceedings against offenders.

Ministry of Justice:

The New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey 2018 provides the most comprehensive family and sexual violence prevalence data that New Zealand has seen. Results were released in 2019, and additional family violence modules are planned.

The ISR (Integrated Service Response) model was evaluated in 2019, and will support further development of family violence responses. This will add to the body of evidence around effective immediate safety responses to family violence. The Ministry of Justice funds the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse to provide a central repository of data and information on family violence in New Zealand.

The Family Violence Act also introduced measures to improve information on family violence. The Act introduced a flag for family violence offences which follows a case through the Court process and appears on offenders’ criminal records. This provides reliable information on the number and type of family violence offences being committed.

Wāhine Māori

The ability to disaggregate data by ethnicity and sex allows information and specific data trends relating to wāhine Māori to be monitored.  

This information is available here.

Recommendation: 

(g) Adopt criteria and guidelines for the provision of victim-oriented and culturally appropriate legal, psychosocial and economic assistance, that recognizes the special needs of Māori and ethnic minority women and girls, while ensuring that cultural sensitivity does not disregard the State party's obligations under the Convention

Response: 

Budget 2019 made a commitment to (and significant investment towards) ensuring safe, consistent and effective responses to family violence in every community.  This will extend and learn from existing community-based pilots and approaches: Integrated Safety Response, Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke and FVIARS.  It will enhance regional capability across the country to respond to family violence and begin the consistent implementation of a national response by: supporting more integrated family violence crisis responses, providing practice leaders to build practice standards and support professional development and training; and ensuring specialist frontline service providers participate fully in risk assessment and triage processes. These initiatives will support and inform the development of proposals for genuinely integrated responses for family violence in every community.

Recommendation: 

(h) Ensure effective coordination and collaboration among the entities responsible for combating gender-based violence.

Response: 

Ministry of Justice:

In 2016, a 12-month pilot of a new Integrated Safety Response (ISR) model was launched in two locations (Waikato and Christchurch). In Budget 2019, both sites received funding for a further two years.  ISR deals with approximately 10,000 families per year in a model that includes:

• whānau centric practice

• cross-sector and community collaboration

• funded specialist services for victims and perpetrators

• information sharing seven days a week facilitated by a dedicated team

• electronic case management, and

• an intensive case management approach to collectively work with high risk families and high risk prison releases.

ISR has been evaluated twice. The October 2017 evaluation found that:

• 72% of completed and closed family plan outcomes were rated as positive or neutral

• 83% of participants had received one or more support service(s)

• many victims noted improvements in their overall well-being, and (where applicable) their children’s

• 61% had no repeat call for Police service in the four months following ISR, and

• all victims interviewed reported feeling safer than they had prior to being dealt with by ISR.

Key findings from the 2019 evaluation include:

• 90% of survey participants indicated that the ISR was ‘effective’ or ‘very effective’

• 73% of victim participants had received one or more support service(s)

• significant reductions in self-reported exposure to all forms of family violence post ISR, and

• Māori impacted by violence had an 18% reduction in family violence offence related re-victimisation compared to matched controls from non-ISR sites.

Police:

Police, on behalf of the Family Violence and Sexual Violence Joint Venture, host the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) initiatives in Canterbury and Waikato. 

ISR sites include multi-agency governance and management structures to provide support and strategic oversight. At the heart of the ISR response are daily triage meetings, personnel to identify risks and issues, problem-solving, planning a co-ordinated response, and reviewing case progress, together with the weekly Intensive Case Management of high-risk cases. Family Safety Plans are made with the families and whānau involvement. The majority (80%) of ISR funding is spent on specialist services. ISR is a cross agency approach to crisis response to family harm episodes. 

Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke (WNPH) is a Police initiated operational model. It is based on a national principles framework that focuses on reducing family harm and reducing the impact of family harm on those families/whānau who are enduring, or at risk. WNPH is a collaborative, system-wide approach where Police, iwi, other agencies and NGOs work together to assess risk and deploy resources to address harm.

Wāhine Māori

Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke involves iwi Māori in the response, with the aim that it is relevant to, and effective for wāhine Māori.

Recommendation: 

(j) Ensure that the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill protects women with disabilities from care-giver violence.

Response: 

The Family Violence Act 2018 applies to all forms of family violence and to all victims of family violence.  The Act has specific provisions relating to carer relationships, and clarifys that people in these situations have legal protections from family violence. ODI also provides secretariat support for accountability mechanisms under the New Zealand Disability Action Plan 2019-2023 (the Action Plan). The Action Plan includes work programmes from agencies across the public sector, including Ministry of Health work programmes. The work that ODI coordinates and leads is aimed at improving the lives of disabled people in New Zealand, including wāhine Maori.

In relation to Line 33 Article 16: Gender Based Violence Against Women 26J, the ODI is represented on the Sexual Violence National Sector Support Government Working Group, which is part of the Family Violence and Sexual Violence Joint Venture, which is led by the Ministry of Justice.

As part of this work, the ODI has advocated for collecting better data to understand how many disabled people are accessing sexual violence services and the impact of these services. The ODI has also advocated for a twin track approach to the delivery of sexual violence services, focused on ensuring mainstream services and supports are inclusive of and accessible to disabled people, and that specialised services and supports are provided to disabled people, based on a level of need not met by the mainstream.

Recommendation: 

(a) Establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry with independent mandate to engage in wide-ranging evaluation of the drawbacks and obstruction of justice and safety for women inherent in the Family Court system, and to recommend necessary legislative and structural changes necessary for making the Family Court safe and just for women and children, particularly in situations of domestic violence.

Response: 

No plans to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry. However, a panel was established to consider what can be done to review the way the family justice system operates, and specifically how the changes made in 2014 have affected families progressing through the Family Court.

The Panel released their report in June this year. It recommended a raft of changes to strengthen and connect family justice services so children, parents and their whānau are treated with dignity and respect and supported to make the best decisions for them. www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/family-court-r....

The Panel's recommendations are being considered.

Recommendation: 

(b) Take all necessary measures, including through legislation and policy guidelines, in line with general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, to reinstate the Bristol Clause and to ensure that women victims of domestic violence are not forced to participate in out-of-court solutions such as mandated mediation.

Response: 

A panel was established to consider what can be done to review the way the family justice system operates, and specifically how the changes made in 2014 have affected families progressing through the Family Court.

The Panel released their report in June this year. It recommended a raft of changes to strengthen and connect family justice services so children, parents and their whānau are treated with dignity and respect and supported to make the best decisions for them. www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/family-court-r....

The Panel's recommendations are being considered.

Recommendation: 

(c) Take all necessary measures, including through legislation and policy guidelines, to ensure that domestic violence, whether directed at the child or at the mother, is properly considered in child custody disputes, particularly when shared physical custody is being contemplated, and investigate the outcomes for shared physical custody on children's development and welfare.

Response: 

In deciding what is in the best interests of the child in a care of children proceeding (including on-going placement), a Judge must consider the principles of section 5 of Care of Children Act. Section 5(a) of the Act states that “a child’s safety must be protected and, in particular, a child must be protected from all forms of violence, (as defined in sections 9(2), 10 and 11 of the Family Violence Act 2018) from all persons, including members of the child’s family, family group, whānau, hapū, and iwi”.  The Family Violence Act ensures that judges are informed of family violence offences to make better-informed decisions.

Under the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, the well-being and best interests of the child or young person is the first and paramount consideration (s4A(1). The Act has a list of circumstances that may constitute or establish the likelihood of serious harm and this is considered by the courts when determining whether a child or young person is in need of care or protection(s14, s14AA). The list includes circumstances where the child or young person has been exposed to family violence within the meaning of s9 of the Family Violence Act 2018.

Recommendation: 

(d) Review the reliance on the Parental Alienation theory, with a view to limit its usage in child custody disputes.

Response: 

A panel was established to consider what can be done to review the way the family justice system operates, and specifically how the changes made in 2014 have affected families progressing through the Family Court.

The Panel released their report in June this year. It recommended a raft of changes to strengthen and connect family justice services so children, parents and their whānau are treated with dignity and respect and supported to make the best decisions for them. www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/family-court-r....

The Panel's recommendations are being considered.

It is recognised that children can be influenced by parents during parental separation or divorce. However, the existence of parental alienation as a formal syndrome or diagnosable condition is a contested concept. Under the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, if serious emotional harm was caused to a child by a parent, this could be grounds that meet the threshold for care and protection concerns requiring Oranga Tamariki intervention.

Recommendation: 

(e) Expedite the adoption of the The Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill, 2017, so as to completely preclude the parental consent as a sufficient requirement to allow marriage below the age of 18, and to allow only court approval under exceptional circumstances for marriages between 16 and 18 years

Response: 

The Marriage (Court Consent to Relationships) Legislation Act came into force in August 2018.  The Act requires 16 and 17 year olds who wish to get married, or enter a civil union or de facto relationship to obtain a Family Court Judge’s consent.

Recommendation: 

(a) Remove abortion from the Crimes Act 1961 and amend the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 in order for abortion to be fully decriminalized and incorporated into health services legislation

Response: 

Ministry of Justice

Parliament on 5 August 2019 and passed the first reading on 8 August 2019. The Bill was then referred to the Abortion Legislation Select Committee which is expected to report back to Parliament in February 2020. The Bill will be subject to a conscience vote in Parliament. Conscience votes are on issues where Members of Parliament are permitted to vote freely (according to their personal beliefs), without being expected to follow a collective political party position.

The Bill is intended to decriminalise abortion and align the regulation of abortion law with other health services. The Bill removes the criminal aspects of the law for health practitioners providing abortion services and women who have an abortion. 

The remaining criminal offence related to abortion is for people who are not health practitioners who perform or attempt to perform an abortion. The person (upon whom the abortion is attempted or performed) is excluded from the offence.

Wāhine Māori

Some provisions in the Bill would likely reduce barriers to access and improve equitable outcomes for wāhine Māori. The Bill provides that a woman can self-refer to an abortion service provider. The Bill also repeals the role of, and requirement for, two certifying consultants to authorise an abortion, and it removes the need to specifically license hospitals, clinics, and other premises that provide abortion facilities.

These changes would mean that women would no longer need to first see a doctor to be referred to abortion services. Abortion medicines would be able to be administered by appropriately qualified health practitioners at a wider range of health care facilities in the future, which may reduce the frequency with which women are required to travel significant distances to reach an abortion provider. Furthermore, we expect the removal of the requirement to seek legal authorisation from two certifying consultants would reduce delays. 

Statistics on abortion are currently  collected and reported by the Abortion Supervisory Committee. These statistics include number of abortions by ethnic group and abortions by ethnicity ratio. In 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, wāhine Māori had the highest ethnicity ratio at 192 abortions per 1,000 known pregnancies. This compares to 189 for Asian women and 170 respectively for both European and Pacific women. If the Abortion Legislation Bill passes, the Abortion Supervisory Committee would be disestablished and the requirement to collect and publish abortion data would shift to the Director-General of Health. The Ministry of Health has commenced implementation planning, including considering which data would be most useful to collect. For continuity purposes, it would be important to collect data on abortions by ethic group.

The Abortion Supervisory Committee’s updated 2018 Standards of Care document contains significantly more information and guidance for practitioners around Māori health, belief systems and cultural practices than the previous 2009 Standards of Care. There are also 15 new standards relating to care of Māori patients. These meet the objectives of He Korowai Oranga, the Māori Health Strategy. 

The Ministry of Health is also developing a sexual and reproductive health work programme, outlining actions agreed to during previous consultation by the Ministry, district health boards and the sexual and reproductive health sector. The focus will be on equity and other government priorities."

Recommendation: 

(b) Ensure that abortion is legalized at least in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman or severe foetal impairment, and ensure women’s access to safe abortion and post-abortion care and services

Response: 

Abortion is already legal for several of the cases listed above.

The Crimes Act 1961 provides statutory grounds for abortion up to twenty weeks of pregnancy on the following grounds:

• serious danger to the life, or to the physical or mental health, of the woman or girl
• substantial risk of the fetus being “seriously handicapped”
• incest
• that the woman or girl is “severely subnormal”.
Rape is not a statutory ground, but can be taken into account when determining if the pregnancy would result in serious danger to the woman’s life or physical or mental health.

After twenty weeks of pregnancy, the current grounds for abortion in the Crimes Act are narrower. Abortion is legal only to save the life of the woman or girl or to prevent serious permanent injury to her physical or mental health. Under these grounds, the impact of severe fetal impairment on a woman’s mental health can be considered.

The Abortion Legislation Bill would decriminalise abortion for women. 

Women’s access to safe abortion and post-abortion care and services is planned for and funded as a part of the general delivery of health and disability services in New Zealand. New Zealand has several legal frameworks for protecting the health and safety of women in the delivery of abortion services, through the regulation of health practitioners’ competence, medicine, and of health facilities.