"Family violence: it's not OK" is the Ministry of Social Development's campaign message against domestic abuse.
Merran Lawler, the chief executive for the National Network of Family Violence Services, told 1News she doesn't just think the slogan is too gentle, but the country's political, cultural, and societal approaches to family violence are as well.
TVNZ Chief Correspondent John Campbell recently dug into the efficacy of men's non-violence programmes after 1News learned Matu Reid and Jesse Kempson — two men that made headlines for their murders — both attended Friendship House, a provider in Manukau.
Lawler responded to the story, telling 1News that greater focus must be put on "systemic failings" in stopping domestic abuse, and New Zealand needs to have a "national conversation" about family violence and the factors enabling it.
She highlighted the perceived strong efficacy of the programmes themselves, saying that two violent outliers do not reflect Friendship House's overall rate of success.
"Member agencies can anecdotally report thousands of cases where people have made significant and sustained changes... it's important to acknowledge, in at least a story or narrative form, that there's lots of evidence that the programmes work, but they don't work for everyone," she said.
"There are significant changes people are making in their lives as a result of these programmes that we don't celebrate or even acknowledge publicly."
However, she said providers have been asking "for years" for information on men who reoffend after completing a non-violence programme, but have been consistently told that the data "does not exist".
"Police collect data, the justice system collects data, within the justice system the family court collects a different set of data to what's collected by the criminal court, and the corrections system collects data, but none of it is comparable — it can't be put alongside each other and matched up.
"There are systemic failings in our entire approach to family violence."
What happens in a non-violence programme?
Lawler told 1News that working with male domestic abusers is not a "sexy, well-paid or even safe" occupation, but nonetheless a critical one.
There's variance to the types of non-violence programmes available, some involving group based work, some involving one-on-one counselling, others being a combination of both.
A "typical" course — one usually referred to someone by a court — is usually 20 weeks long, involves a couple hours a week and is done in a group setting.
A participant initially has an "intensive assessment" by a family violence expert who may also facilitate the course.
"Part of the work of that assessment is exploring motivations to change behaviours, what barriers might be put in place preventing him from wanting to change, what his background is, and his experiences he had growing up that inform his current behaviours," she said.
"There is also an intensive assessment of the risks the person presents to his partner, his children and what needs to be put in place to manage that risk and inform victim survivors for their safety."
She said a bulk of the average programme involves roleplay and educational components, such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is used to explain to participants that they are getting their way — including basic, psychological and self-fulfilment needs — in an "unhealthy" manner.
Core components also address sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and help men to understand the barriers women face in the world to live safely, such as privilege and patriarchy.
Lawler said attendees have ongoing evaluations throughout the programme that allow facilitators to see what behavioural insights are gained, how much each person contributes to each session, and to ensure nobody is harbouring undisclosed feelings when they leave each night.
At the end of the mandated programme a final assessment is completed, which is designed to see if people need ongoing support, but is "more to the benefit of the organisation than the court".
"Most organisations that provide court-referred services... want to be able to continue to work with men for more than 20 weeks," Lawler said.
In an earlier statement, the National Network of Family Violence Services said providers were given a maximum of 50 hours over the course of four to five months to "completely change men who have entrenched beliefs and behaviours".
"Many find it really difficult to sign off somebody after 20 weeks when they know either that man has expressed desire to continue coming to the programme, or the facilitator knows he hasn't made the changes that are necessary," Lawler said.
"The obligation with the provider, as part of the contract with the Ministry of Justice, is that when a man has completed his 20 weeks, a sign-off saying he completed the programme is needed. We have circumstances every day where facilitators of those programmes feel they are signing off somebody that hasn't really got it, and further work could ensure he gets it.
"But, the court really is focused on if he completed the 20 weeks, attended and participated."
She said the court is interested in participants showing commitment to a course, but it does not focus on personal changes — or lack thereof — made afterwards.
"They're not interested in if he took anything on board, or if he can demonstrate any changes in his attitudes, beliefs and behaviours... the court's sole interest is if he completed the programme."
'An endless stream of victims'
Lawler argued the family violence approach accepted nationally, by funding bodies and the justice system anticipates an "endless stream of victims" that will fund treatments and victim support after the fact, but do little to slow it down in the first place.
She said support groups such as Women's Refuge are having to fundraise to support the "endless stream" of survivors that come to them for aid.
"We need to start with what needs to change in our system, so that we keep the victim survivor at the heart of all the work that's done, but we keep our eyes and our focus firmly on the person that's causing the mess in the first place," she said.
"It's a system that anticipates and seeks to accommodate victim survivors, but it's an afterthought.
"Everyone's responsibilities to interrupt that cycle of violence from doctors treating injuries, police recognising that someone involved in a violent incident at home needs help."
She said everyone needs to move away from the notion that people are simply "cured" once a non-violence course is completed, and the Government needs to better address the actions and behaviours attendees exhibit once finished.
"It's a 50-hour programme. A guy is immersed in it for two hours a week, the other 166 hours of the week he's out in the community, where he's consistently bombarded with messages of 'boys will be boys' and 'it's okay to demand respect from a partner because women should respect menfolk'."
"The justice system doesn't see a programme as anything more than a way-stop through the justice process. It's not interested in 'did this guy make sustained changes to his life?', it's 'did he complete the programme? If so, he gets a tick'.
"There needs to be an investment by Government in looking at how we evaluate not just the efficacy of a non-violence programme, but how we evaluate the efficacy in everything we do in response to family violence, and that just doesn't exist.
Lawler said too often, steps put in place to address family violence are "detour points," rather than "practical, meaningful interventions".
"We need to see the purpose of intervention as important and valuable, rather than just focusing on the outcome.
"In criminal matters, too often the purpose of undertaking a programme is viewed by participants as 'well if I complete it, I may get a lighter sentence', rather than it being sold to them as 'you're dangerous, you're a threat to the people you supposedly love. If you're committed to changing that, we're giving you the opportunity to change that'."
1News investigates after Auckland gunman Matu Reid and murderer Jesse Kempson attended the same non-violence provider. (Source: 1News)
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