Christchurch Women's Refuge blog - The Roll-on Effect of Family Violence

The effects of family violence are insidious and far-reaching. In the Christchurch Press on May 5th an article headed Rapists Faced Abuse, asserted that New Zealand’s prisons are full of people abused as children. Citing as one example Joseph Thompson, New Zealand’s worst serial rapist, criminologist Dr Greg Newbold said that Thompson “had endured a childhood of sexual abuse”. Now, I realise I could be opening a can of worms here. Many people feel that this argument is a well-worn excuse used by perpetrators to cry off from facing the ramifications of their crimes. However, bear with me. What I want to speak about today is not excuses, but rather causes.

60 Minutes on April 28th featured Girls in the Hood, which documented girls who were involved in girl gangs and thus violence and crime. Many of these girls had experienced personal abuse from family members. One girl commented that “A lot of these girls come from very scary and seriously abusive home lives”. The connection between family abuse and the ensuing behaviour from victims of that abuse was very apparent in the documentary. As the presenter commented “The sad reality is that if you scratch the surface the girls will admit they only behave the way they do because of their pasts. International studies have found that the majority of female offenders suffer sexual or physical abuse”.

So how do we stop this cycle of violence-begets-violence? Our country has been actively confronting family violence through the It’s Not Ok campaign. The predominant message is that it’s everyone’s business; it’s a community problem. If we are community minded and actively support a ‘no violence’ policy in our neighbourhood then it will not only drive the message home, but hopefully it will help families and young people to access the support they need. In order to halt the cycle of family violence and abuse, in order for our young children not to grow up to become abusers, then we need to protect them from becoming victims of abuse. We need to halt the far-reaching and ominous effects of domestic abuse that lie behind subsequent violent and abusive behaviour. If you experience, or know any women or children who experience, family violence on any level then please do not hesitate to call our crisis helpline for any type of support or information.