The Government's pumping nearly $115 million into funding its national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence.
Te Aorerekura - the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence was launched last December as a 25-year framework to address the social issues which lead to harm and ensure communities and government are working together to end it.
The strategy is getting $114.5 million in operating funding over four years as part of Budget 2022, Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence Marama Davidson announced on Tuesday.
"Budget 2022 will help us deliver better primary prevention services, support community-led responses, and improve workforce capability to strengthen community approaches to eliminating family violence and sexual violence," she said.
"Developed in partnership, Te Aorerekura identified six shifts that need to occur in order for tangata whenua, specialist sectors, communities and government to work together towards people being able to enjoy peaceful lives."
The New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey for between October 2019 and November 2020, released last year, showed almost 90,000 adults experienced offences by family members during that period. Nearly 2 in 10 offences were sexual assaults.
The report also found 35 percent of females and 12 percent of males had experienced sexual assault during their lifetime, and 18 percent of those aged between 15 and 19 had already been affected.
Davidson also announced on Tuesday that $37.5 million is going towards strengthening initiatives like the Campaign for Action on Family Violence, E Tū Whānau and Pasefika Proud. Three new initiatives focused on ethnic communities, older people and youth are also being developed.
"The Budget will also provide $38.1 million to expand integrated community-led responses (ICR), which recognise that the best solutions to complex social challenges come from within communities with the support of Government agencies," she said.
"There will also be a further $8.1 million to address cost pressures in the health system and allow for more victims to have access to timely and specialist assessments referrals to specialist services and supports in relation to non-fatal strangulation."
A further $26.7 million will go to ensuring the people working in the communities to prevent family and sexual violence have the "knowledge, skills, capacity and organisational support they need to keep whānau safe and support people to start healing".
"An additional $4 million will build on the funding for Māori-Crown partnership arrangements in Budget 2021, by funding a wider cross-section of communities to engage with government in collective monitoring, sharing and learning."
