Elephant in the living room | The Salvation Army

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Elephant in the living room

Posted November 25, 2014

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A think piece on family violence in New Zealand, by Chris Frazer.

New Zealand Police attend a family violence situation every seven minutes.

Family violence in all its varied forms is the elephant in the living room of far too many families within Aotearoa New Zealand today and the statistics alone make for chilling reading.

And yet, far more alarming is the reality that NZ Police estimate only 20% of incidents of violence within the home is actually reported in any given year leaving an estimated 80% of domestic abuse remaining hidden within the private sphere of the family home.  When taking into account these figures, it is essential that we focus on the faces of those who suffer as a result of violence within their homes – for the human cost of death, injury and longlasting psychological harm and impact is more far reaching, than official statistics reveal.