Most people don’t want to talk about parents who beat up their kids, but it has be to done if children are to heal.

   That’s one of the reasons why the National Network of Stopping Violence Services (NNSVS) and the Hamilton Abuse Intervention project are bringing American family violence expert Lundy Bancroft to NZ next week (arrives in NZ on July 27, 2009).  Lundy Bancroft is one of the few people in the world to have studied abusive fathers and their impact on their children. 

   NNSVS spokesperson Neville Robertson says Lundy’s work shows violent parents, usually fathers, can present major risks to the well-being of their children, before, during and following the separation of parents.

    “Too often the simplistic notion that children need their dads mean that children are put into dangerous situations by the perpetrator (their dad) having access to them.

    Robertson says people can change and become safe and responsible parents but assessing who can be safely entrusted with children - and under what circumstances – requires specialist skills and knowledge. 

   “We also want to look at what children need to heal from the trauma they have witnessed.”

    HAIP manager Lila Jones says Bancroft is refreshing in that he works with and focuses on all family members, the victim and the perpetrator, while always keeping the child’s wellbeing at the centre.

    “We all have the opportunity to learn from Lundy’s experience so that as a society we can all support the reduction of our terrible family violence statistics and work towards building a sound future for our children, for ourselves.

    While Bancroft is in New Zealand, he will run community workshops in Auckland (28 July), Wellington (29 July), Christchurch (31^st July) and Hamilton (3 August). He will also meet with policy makers and government officials to discuss the justice system’s response to child safety, welfare and custody.

 

FAQs Re: Lundy Bancroft NZ Visit

Why did you invite Lundy Bancroft to New Zealand?

NZ has some of the worst child abuse statistics in the world, unfortunately this is often at the hands of their own parents or caregivers.  This is a topic that many people would rather avoid but if we don’t tackle child abuse by parents, then we can’t do anything to address it.  More importantly we want to promote discussion and action on the ways to help children heal after they have been abused or witnessed abuse by their parent.  That is why Hamilton Abuse Intervention Project (HAIP) and the National Network of Stopping Violence Services are pleased to bring Lundy Bancroft to NZ

 

Who is Lundy Bancroft?

Lundy Bancroft is one of the few people in the world to have studied abusive men and their impact as fathers on their children.  He has more than 20 years of experience specializing in interventions for abusive men and their families.  Bancroft has worked directly with over a thousand abusers as an intervention counsellor, and has served as clinical supervisor on another thousand cases.

 

He has written two books specifically on this topic  The Batterer as Parent: Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Family Dynamics   and When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse. 

 

Why is Bancroft meeting with government officials and judges as well as community groups?

Bancroft has broad experience in other areas of topical interest in NZ.  He has spoken extensively on assessing and monitoring domestic violence programmes for men.  He has served as a custody evaluator, child abuse investigator, and expert witness in domestic violence and child abuse cases.  He appears across the United States as a presenter for judges and other court personnel, child protective workers, therapists, law enforcement officials, and other audiences.

 

Who is Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga/The National Network of Stopping Violence?

We are a network of community based organisations working to prevent violence and abuse in families in Aotearoa New Zealand.  We have 36 member organisations, throughout the country, who work at a grassroots level to promote non-violent behaviour.  For more information visit our website, www.nnsvs.org.nz.

 

Who is HAIP?

Hamilton Abuse Intervention Project, or HAIP is an agency committed to working with families affected by Family Violence in Waikato.  They have one of the longest running mens education programmes in the country, which started in 1991.  The Men's groups focus on challenging attitudes around power and control issues in their relationships.  The Women's groups focus on educating and strengthening women.  The Youth

 

 

Groups (12-17 yrs) also provide support, education re domestic violence issues and the effects.  HAIP also provide an 0800No2Abuse line as well as range of advocacy services, response to Police reported family violence and broader support family members may require to rebuild their lives and move away from abuse and violence.

 

Why highlight domestic violence?  Is it really a problem?

Yes.  Sad to say, that New Zealand has one of the worst rates of domestic violence in the world.  Police attend a family violence incident every 7 ½ minutes.  On average, 14 women, 10 children and six men are killed by a member of their family every year.  Half of all murders in New Zealand are family violence.

 

But what about child abuse rates?

A NZ review of all child homicides between 1991-2000 found that in cases where a child was killed by their parent - 54% perpetrators were fathers, 40% were mothers and 6% of cases involved both parents.  The Ministry of Social Development said child youth and family abuse notifications had increased every year over the last three years, with 29 thousand call-outs recorded to the year ending June 2008. 

 

The referendum on the anti-smacking law is just about to start.  Did you co-incide Lundy’s visit with that?

No, he just happens to be available at this time.  However we are happy that he can talk about the impact of abuse on children, and more importantly, generate discussion and action on the ways to help children heal from abuse by their parents. 

 

A smack didn’t do me any harm.  Anti-smacking is just a “new age” phase.

There are lots of other ways to deal with behaviour that you don’t like.  Also smacking teaches children that hitting is okay.  Violence controls by fear.  At its worst, violence results in the death of innocent and defenceless children.     

 

Does this have anything to do with the “It’s Not Okay” campaign that I see all over the place?

The “It’s Not Okay” campaign is coordinated by a taskforce of different organisations, including Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga National Network of Stopping Violence.  We continue to support the message that violence and abuse IS NOT OK in any shape or for any reason.