Last night's first reading of the Family Proceedings Amendment Bill, which aims to address violence in a marriage or civil union, was incredible for Ashley Jones, the woman who brought the bill to life.
List MP Angie Warren-Clark presented the bill to Parliament, reflecting on her own journey with living in an abusive household during her childhood.
"The violence I experienced growing up has shaped my life's work to break the silence, the shame, the stigma, and the myths of family violence," Warren-Clark said.
Appearing on Breakfast this morning, Jones said the reading was better than anything she could have expected.
"I went along to Parliament and I knew that Angie Warren-Clark was going to mention me in her opening speech, and I knew Chris Bishop would likely mention me because I worked on my petition with him, but pretty much every politician that spoke last night addressed me in the gallery," Jones said.
After leaving her abusive marriage in 2020, Jones found herself in the two-year waiting period required by law before she could file the divorce papers, leaving her subject to financial and emotional abuse from her husband, and later inspiring her petition.
In 2021, the petition to 'change our archaic divorce laws so abuse victims can be free of their abuser' was signed by more than 5000 people and taken to Parliament.
"We're trying to change the stand-down period for victims of abuse when it comes to a dissolution of marriage or civil union. Currently in New Zealand there is a two-year stand-down to prove that you've reached irreconcilable differences. But this bill, and this law change, would mean that if you were a victim of abuse in any shape or form, that you could get a dissolution of marriage in any form instantly," Jones said.
Jones said the bill is important for so many across the country, highlighting the hundreds of people that reached out to her with their own abuse stories.
"There were some figures shared last night around how many protection orders were granted last year. I think about 4000 were applied for and 2000 were approved. That goes to show how widely this could impact New Zealand, considering the fact that 55% of women will experience some form of abuse in their relationship," she said.
Jones is now finally divorced, saying she hadn't realised how much it was holding her back both mentally and emotionally.
"I feel amazing, but I am so determined that no one should ever have the experience I had. It took me an extra nine months to get my divorce after I was eligible, and the experience I went through — dealing with an archaic, backwards court system — the fire inside me is so strong to change this for everyone after me."
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