TLWV is a not-for-profit charity and specialist provider of services for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. The agency also provides programmes and support for children who have experienced domestic violence in their homes.
APART FROM PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, WHAT OTHER FORMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE ARE THERE?
Physical violence is only one form of domestic violence. Other forms include:
- Minimising, denying and blaming,e.g. making light of abuse, saying abuse didn’t happen, saying they caused it.
- Using male privilege, e.g. treating them like servants, making all the big decisions, being the one to define men’s and women’s roles.
- Using isolation, e.g. controlling who they see, where they go, limiting outside involvement.
- Using economic abuse, e.g. making them ask for money, giving them an allowance, making them produce receipts for all expenditure.
- Using children, e.g. threats to take the children away, using the children to relay messages, using visitation to harass the other parent.
- Using coercion and threats, e.g. making/carrying out threats to harm them, threats to leave, to commit suicide, report them to Oranga Tamariki/WINZ.
- Using intimidation, e.g. smashing things, abusing pets.
- Using emotional abuse, e.g. putting them down, making them feel like they’re going crazy.
- Sexual abuse, e.g. rape, forcing them to watch porn, forcing them to partake in acts they are not comfortable doing, making degrading sexual comments.
DOES NEW ZEALAND HAVE A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD?
A WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women revealed New Zealand has the highest rate of reported intimate partner violence in the developed world. A shocking 80% of incidents go unreported. In 2015, NZ Police attended 105,000 family violence incidents. If all incidents were reported, they would have attended at least 525,000 calls for help.
IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVALENT ACROSS ALL DEMOGRAPHICS?
Yes, absolutely. Domestic violence stems from a need to exert power and control over another, not from one’s social position, ethnicity nor education. Our agency works with victims and perpetrators from across the social strata, ranging from those who may be unemployed, right through to those who occupy executive/professional positions.
HOW WOULD SOMEONE BE ABLE TO ENROL IN ONE OF YOUR PROGRAMMES?
Referrals into any TLWV programme can be made by an individual, either by calling our office or completing an online referral via our website. We also receive referrals from other social service agencies, GPs, counsellors, DHB, Ministry of Justice, Department of Corrections, etc.
CAN OUR READERS VOLUNTEER THEIR SERVICE, DONATE OR HELP IN ANY WAY?
TLWV welcomes any form of assistance, whether this might be volunteer hours or financial donations. Our office can be contacted via our website tlwv.org.nz or on our toll-free number 0800 577 003.
