Family violence, sexual assault - going up or down?

The New Zealand Herald has reported an apparent drop in child abuse, based on Child Youth and Family data. However, interviewed for the article, Clearinghouse Co-Director Dr Janet Fanslow emphasised that both Child Youth and Family and NZ Police data are affected by changing policies and priorities and as such, cannot be used to indicate underlying trends:

"While we would love the story to be true, and it's what we are all working towards ... we don't have the data sources that are sufficient to draw that conclusion."

Unfortunately, statements that "New Zealand may be finally tackling its child abuse problem" or that family violence is "levelling off" simply cannot be made at present. In June, NZFVC published an Issues Paper on what might be required to monitor trends in family violence over time: Measurement of family violence at a population level: What might be needed to develop reliable and valid family violence indicators?

Another NZ Herald article this week reported on sexual assault and family violence during last year's Rugby World Cup.

‘Fall in abuse case figures raises hopes’, NZ Herald, 25/9/12

‘Rise in assaults during Rugby World Cup’, NZ Herald, 27/9/12