Ministry Of Justice Report

New Research On Domestic Violence And Child Access

The domestic violence legislation has helped protect children caught up in family violence", Minister of Justice, Tony Ryall
said today.

This is the conclusion of new research into the effectiveness of domestic violence legislation released by the Ministry of
Justice today.

"One of the aims of the domestic violence legislation is to make sure that there are safe arrangements for children's access to
their non-custodial parent when there has been violence in the family", said Mr Ryall.

"The report found that children were generally reported to be happy and secure with supervised access arrangements.

"Although custodial parents frequently said they had been harassed in the areas outside supervised access centres, they still
felt safer when access was supervised, the report says.

"The research found that there is a growing use of supervised access for children from violent families, although there were
still some disturbing cases where children were exposed to violence when access was not properly supervised.

"The report, 'The Domestic Violence Legislation and Child Access in New Zealand' points to ways in which access could
be made safer for these children.

"The research found that family members who supervised access needed to know more about what was expected of them.

"Parents also needed to know more about the effects of violence on their children and the reasons why the law was in place.

"Many parents needed more help in dealing with the court's processes for arriving at access decisions.

"Not all families had supervised access arrangements however. About half of the children who had unsupervised access
were reported to have suffered some form of harm or neglect.

"Both the legislation and this research signal that children in violent families are at risk and their safety and well-being need
to be given high priority.

"The report will now provide a basis for further policy development in this area, including some work that has been on hold
awaiting the completion of this research.

"Now that it is available the two departments primarily involved, Justice and Children, Young Persons and their Families
Agency, can start jointly addressing some of the issues it raises.

"The Government will be looking at ways it can help make children in violent families safer still", concluded Mr Ryall.