Women's refuge officials are anticipating a surge of family violence reports as the country begins to move out of Covid-19 lockdown conditions, with chief executive Ang Jury urging Kiwis to take action if they have concerns for others.
During the epidemic select committee today, Dr Jury said there was an expectation there would be an enormous spike in family violence during the lockdown period, driven by international reports.
"We were preparing, but what we've actually seen... is that actually in lockdown it's extremely difficult if you're someone experiencing violence from your partner to reach out for help.
"Our fear at this point is that it will be post-lockdown that we will see the effects, we will see the violence that we believe has been occurring.
Dr Jury said other impacts from Covid-19, including increased poverty, increase emotional and mental distress, loss of agency through unemployment, "those are such serious contributors to family violence that I fail to see how we will be able to avoid an increase rate".
She said additional funding meant Women's Refuge still had capacity and was preparing for a possible increase in need.
"We're guessing based on what we're hearing overseas. Their experience is mirroring ours. Some are a little bit ahead in terms of starting to lift lockdown and they are seeing an increase in help-seeking."
National's Louise Upston spoke of the new culture of New Zealand dobbing neighbours in for breaching Covid-19 rules, and asked how that could apply to the prevention of family violence.
"We need to be looking out for each other," Dr Jury said. "We in New Zealand are very, very good at seeing things, hearing things and extremely good about worrying about things."
Mike Bush's statement comes after concerns were raised by welfare agencies. (Source: Other)
"We are not so good at doing anything."
She said if members of the public are worried about someone, "take action, reach out to that person".
"If you're truly worried about someone's safety contact police, or us. We would far rather be called for a nothing than to be called to a serious injury or a death."
Police initially saw an increase in family violence reports at the beginning of the Alert Level 4 lockdown, before numbers went down slightly. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush said previously this could be impacted by difficulties reaching out for help while being in lockdown.
On April 4, Dr Jury told TVNZ 60 per cent of refuges had reported an increase in demand.
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