'Staggering' report shows 41 Kiwis killed by family

Figures that show at least 41 New Zealanders died at the hands of family members in 2009 have been labelled "staggering" by some working to stop family violence.

The Family Violence Death Review Committee issued the figures in its annual report to Parliament. But it says the number could still get higher, as some deaths at the end of the year have not yet been included.

The figure is made up of 16 children, 13 women and 12 men – 10 deaths above the national average of 14 women, six men and 10 children killed each year.

A family violence death is defined as "the unnatural death of a person (adult or child) where the suspected perpetrator is a family or extended family member, caregiver, intimate partner, previous partner of the victim, or previous partner of the victim's current partner".

Committee chairwoman Wendy Davis said this was the first year the committee, which was established by the Health Ministry in 2008, had formally provided an official toll.

It was a shocking, yet unsurprising, result, she said.

"Nobody in New Zealand who works in the family violence area is surprised by these."

The committee planned to analyse each death to highlight "crisis points" where intervention may have been possible, she said. The more information, the better equipped they would be to address the problem, she said.

"As a group we are very aware of the complexity of the problem we are helping to try and solve."

Family violence researcher and campaigner Ruth Herbert, who is a member of the Round Table for Violence Against Women, labelled the figure "staggering". "To actually hear it as an official number kind of makes me a bit weak at the knees."

Now the information was public it had to be used to make a difference, she said.

"This country has to stand up, open its eyes, and realise what's going on behind closed doors.

"We need to take a concerted approach to this. We need to base what we're doing on evidence. It really needs a family violence programme. It's all been rather ad hoc to date."

The Family Violence Death Review Committee's report says it aims to review each death and make recommendations by the end of 2010.

- © Fairfax NZ News