It’s time to bust myths about who commits family violence. Our experience in the top of the South Island is that men and women who commit violence come from all ethnicities, but generally reflect our community. We really need to push back against any stereotypes or misunderstandings that people of colour or, dare we say it, Māori, are the most frequent perpetrators of violence. Nothing could be further from the truth and the numbers prove it.
In the six months ending 31 December last year, 99 men and women charged with a criminal offence came to SVS – Living Safe to attend our non-violence programme. They came from locations across the West Coast, other parts of Tasman, Marlborough including Kaikoura, and Nelson
The data collected on those 99 clients show that the vast majority were Pākehā, which fits completely with our decades of experience in this area of family harm, and reflects our community.
We do track other ethnicities not listed here, we simply did not have participants in this particular programme during this cycle from those ethnic groups.
If you are interested in SVS Living Safe’s services, we do have programmes for those self-referring. Please get in touch by email or
call us on 03 548 3850. You can read more about our programmes on our website.
|
Ethnicity |
Number |
Percentage |
|
Pākehā |
65 |
66% |
|
Māori |
23 |
23% |
|
Tongan |
4 |
4% |
|
Indian |
1 |
1% |
|
European |
5 |
5% |
|
South Asian |
1 |
1% |
|
|
99 |
100% |