NZFVC Quick Reads: 11 December 2024

NZFVC Quick Reads: 11 December 2024

Welcome to our Quick Reads format. Each week we share selected news bites relevant to family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa. See all past NZFVC Quick reads.

Inspectorate report on young people in prison

Te Tari Tirohia | Office of Inspectorate has released Young people and young adults in Corrections’ custody: thematic report (2024). The report examines how the Department of Corrections | Ara Poutama manages people aged under 25 in prison and how they can be helped to stop offending and safely return home. The report makes 26 recommendations which have all been accepted in principle by Corrections. The first and overarching recommendation is that Corrections “develop a Plan for under 25-year-olds, that responds to and appropriately resources the unique needs, challenges and opportunities for young people and young adults in prison.”

Ombudsman’s opinion on the Ministry of Social Development’s processes for considering claims of abuse in care

The Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, has released his final opinion on Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development’s processes for considering claims of abuse in care. The Ombudsman started investigating this issue after they received a complaint made against the Ministry of Social Development by law firm Cooper Legal, which represents more than 1,000 claimants. The Ombudsman’s media release provides an overview of the final opinion and shares the finding that, “the rates of compensation are arbitrary and unreasonable.” The Ombudsman acknowledged that Government is working on a new redress system in light of recommendations made by the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry but believes improvements could still be made to the existing system in the interim.

New report on femicide published by the UN

UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime have jointly published Femicides in 2023: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicide (2024). The report found that in 2023, approximately 51,100 women and girls were killed by an intimate partner or a family member, amounting to 60% of global femicides. UN Women’s media release provides an overview of the report’s findings.

Factsheet on statistics of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation in Aotearoa released by the Ministry of Justice

Tāhū o te Ture | Ministry of Justice have released Non-fatal strangulation/suffocation in New Zealand. This factsheet brings together existing evidence on the scale of non-fatal strangulation/suffocation (NFSS) in Aotearoa. It supplements this data with recent population-based surveys in Australia which included standalone questions about NFSS, a feature not present in the recent population-level surveys undertaken in Aotearoa. 

New research report on women’s experience of homelessness

The Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness partnered with Ihi Research and Taylor Fry to produce Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga: Understanding barriers and solutions to women’s homelessness in Aotearoa (2024). This research included interviews with women impacted by homelessness and with kaimahi who work with women experiencing homelessness. The research also included analysis of Census data from 2018 and 2023. The Coalition provide a summary in their media release. Newsroom covered the report in Housing regime makes homeless women invisible.