Varying Perspectives on the Treatment of Domestic Violence in New Zealand

Abstract

Women's refuges have existed in New Zealand since 1973 and today over two hundred various community and national level organizations work with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and child endangerment. New Zealand service providers and government officials view their work in the area of violence against women as part of an international effort with an obligation to uphold the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW as it is widely known, a treaty ratified by the country in 1985. While there is considerable governmental and nongovernmental support for those whose lives are touched by violence, there is also considerable tension over how to best design and deliver the services to those who need them. New Zealand is a diverse nation with a large indigenous population and growing Pasifika and Asian communities. Many of the recent debates center on how to best design programs for a multicultural population while still privileging the rights of the indigenous Maori. New Zealand's experience in addressing violence against women illustrates the disjunction between transnational discourses of violence against women, and the proposed international solutions to the problem, and the local efforts to help survivors from diverse cultural backgrounds. First, I will provide a brief description of how services are designed and delivered in New Zealand. Second, I will outline the main philosophical disagreements found among social service providers. Third, I discuss why research on the front-line has the potential to tell us a great deal about the limits of international treaties and enhance our response to violence against women.