Domestic Protection Act 1982
The first law to address family violence specifically was the Domestic Protection Act 1982. This provided for non-violence and non-molestation orders to be made on application to a district or family court.
A non-violence order applied to a person who had used or threatened violence against their partner or children living in the same household. This person could be arrested and held for 24 hours.
A non-molestation order prevented a separated partner from stalking the applicant or entering their property. It ceased to apply if the couple began living together again.
Occupation and tenancy orders enabled the applicant to keep living in a previously shared home. A 1986 amendment introduced mandatory stopping-violence programmes for perpetrators of intimate partner violence.
Police policy changes
Police adopted a more assertive approach to family violence in 1987 after a trial in Hamilton. Recognising the risk of retribution faced by women with violent partners, they decided to arrest offenders if an assault was detected, rather than waiting for the victim to make a complaint. They also began referring victims to Women’s Refuge for immediate support.
Domestic Violence Act 1995
A study of continued breaches of orders in 1992 found that the police pro-arrest policy was poorly implemented, offenders often received very light sentences, and intimidation and harassment were often not seen as sufficient reasons for granting orders. Many of the study’s recommendations were incorporated in the Domestic Violence Act 1995.
The definition of domestic violence was broadened to encompass psychological and sexual as well as physical violence. It was applied to a wider range of relationships, in recognition that family members, same-sex partners, flatmates, carers and anyone close to the victim could use power-and-control violence. Causing or allowing a child to witness abuse was defined as domestic violence.
Protection orders replaced non-violence and non-molestation orders. They applied equally to offenders living with or separated from the victim. Orders were now permanent unless challenged by the respondent, in which case a hearing was held . Penalties for breaching orders were raised, and increased in severity with each breach.
Mediation or murder?
Under the Domestic Protection Act 1982, the Family Court often tried to resolve conflict through counselling. This proved inappropriate in cases of domestic violence, as the meetings exposed women to potential abuse and intimidation. One woman was killed by her former partner as she left court-ordered counselling.1
An amendment to the Guardianship Act 1968 denied violent partners who had been served with a protection order access to their children unless the courts were satisfied they would be safe. This was to prevent people taking revenge on an estranged partner by killing or harming their children.
Reviewing the act
Many people working to reduce domestic violence agreed that the Domestic Violence Act 1995 was good legislation. However, more than 200 women and children died in domestic-violence-related homicides between 1995 and 2007.
Not stopping violence
Battered women surveyed for the 2007 review of the Domestic Violence Act often stated that, in their experience, court-ordered stopping-violence programmes for their partners did not work. Men refused to attend or did not complete the courses.
A 2007 review concluded that implementation of the act was often inadequate. The conditions for granting a temporary protection order had been narrowed, and breaches of orders were not always followed up by police, particularly if they did not involve physical violence. Men who breached orders were rarely convicted, and those who were received light sentences. Some men succeeded in having protection orders discharged, even when they had breached them, and gained custody of or continued access to their children.
Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Act 2009
This act introduced police safety orders, which enabled police to remove the alleged offender from the home for up to five days to ensure the immediate safety of the victim. These orders were to be used in situations where there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest, but reason to believe domestic violence could occur. Judges were allowed to issue protection orders when sentencing an offender, penalties for breaching orders were stiffened, and those failing to attend a court-ordered programme could be imprisoned for up to six months.
Family Violence Act 2018 and Domestic Violence Victims' Protection Act 2018
In 2016 the government announced a major overhaul of the legislation relating to family violence. A Ministerial Working Group on Family and Sexual Violence identified the need for 53 changes to a number of laws.
The Family Violence Act 2018 replaced the Domestic Violence Act 1995. The Crimes Act was also overhauled. These changes embodied a more sophisticated understanding of family violence than previous legislation, with a greater focus on victims and the intergenerational impacts of violence.
The new legislation recognised that coercive and controlling behaviour could be used over a long period to frighten and undermine a victim, and recognised suffocation and strangulation as family violence crimes. It also made it a crime to force someone into marriage. The effectiveness of protection orders was improved, by making contact over the internet or on social media a breach.
'Eyes wide open'
In the 2010s the New Zealand Police acknowledged that their focus on the isolated incidents they were called to, and their concern about whether an actual crime had been committed, did not help them get to the root of family harm. Police now undertook to take an ‘eyes wide open’ approach to family harm. They would look more broadly at patterns of abuse and control, with the goal of helping families more effectively.
The changes also better recognised the abuse of older, sick or disabled people. Disabled people had been found to have a higher risk of experiencing family and sexual violence than others. Better protections for women whose communities use bridal dowries were introduced.
The Domestic Violence – Victims’ Protection Act was passed in 2018 after many years of work by Green Party MP Jan Logie. This legislation allowed victims of domestic violence to take 10 days’ paid leave from work after violent incidents and provided other protections. Women’s support groups argued that victims would have more confidence about leaving difficult living situations if they did not risk losing their jobs by taking time off work.
The government provided more funding for family violence groups and police, and set up Te Puna Aonui, with responsibility for coordinating government agencies’ work against family and sexual violence.