United Nations gives New Zealand a 'fail' grade in Family Court review
Kirsty Johnston15:33, Mar 11 2021
 

New Zealand has failed to address the “obstruction of justice” for domestic violence victims within the Family Court, and must make changes to ensure women and children are safe, the United Nations (UN) women’s rights committee says.

In a report released on Wednesday, the committee said it regretted New Zealand had chosen not established a royal commission of inquiry into the courts as it recommended in 2018, after hearing multiple reports the courts were not meeting victims’ needs.

The government instead ordered a ministerial review, with a more limited scope.

The committee said it was concerned the review did not address the “root causes of the systemic lack of trust and sensitivity” towards female victims in the court, and that women’s safety wasn’t part of the inquiry.

 
It said therefore, it considered New Zealand had not implemented its recommendation. The committee asked for more information about what “appropriate action” it would take to make the court system safe, at the country’s next appearance before its members in 2022.

New Zealand reports on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - considered the international bill of women’s rights – every four years.

However, during this reporting period, it was asked to complete a two-yearly update, because the committee was concerned about its response to family violence issues.

CEDAW then completed its own assessment of progress, which was the report made public today.

The committee’s report was immediately hailed as “validating” by domestic violence advocates, who have argued for years that the courts do not properly understand family violence, and therefore that they are unsafe.

Deborah Mackenzie from the charity the Backbone Collective said it had surveyed hundreds of victim-survivors about their concerns with the court process, and been horrified by the results.

“It is so affirming to see that the voices and experiences of women that Backbone has tried so hard to share with the New Zealand Government – but that haven’t been listened to – have been heard and responded to by such an important international treaty body,” Mackenzie said.

“New Zealand can’t continue to pretend that this is a great place to be a woman or a child. Family and sexual violence is a common occurrence and women keep telling us there is very little protection or support provided to them – partly because there is an inability to see violence and acknowledge it, especially when it doesn’t look how we expect.”

Women’s Refuge policy head Natalie Thornburn said the recommendations reflected reality for many women – that when they try to seek safety through the Family Court, the violence against them is obscured or invisible.

“That's not because the court doesn't want to do right by people, but because they don't necessarily know how to,” she said. “Family violence is a specialist issue; it needs a specialist response.”

Thornburn said, for example, there had been a tendency to view violence as “past” once parents separated and treat perpetrators as OK parents, when that wasn’t safe and wasn’t how violence worked.

“Even if they separate, that violence usually carries on. Women may decide to physically 'leave' an abuser, but they can't force the abuser to stop using violence,” she said. “Those dynamics are subtle, complex, and insidious. Even committed helpers and decision-makers might not see them. But seeing them and naming them are the basis for making the Family Court safe and effective for family violence victims.”

 
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KIRSTY JOHNSTON • SENIOR JOURNALIST
kirsty.johnston@stuff.co.nz