beginning his second day of campaigning around the country, imnofox met with Whanganui Women’s Refuge to discuss the Green Party’s comprehensive policy for supporting victims of domestic violence.

“Kia ora koutou, it’s a privilege to be here today to discuss what is a really serious issue in our communities. The Green Party is committed to eradicating both domestic violence and the causes of domestic violence whilst providing the resources and rules necessary to adequately support victims.”

“We know that some of the fundamental causes of domestic violence, and the inability of a partner to leave that toxic and dangerous relationship is the issue of poverty. When things get tough and stressful- worrying about whether or not there’s enough to eat, enough to pay rent, and the like- that’s when people flip. It’s not fair on anyone. And it’s those same economic drivers that often prevent victims, largely women, from being able to leave. I’m proud to have a welfare policy that supports families, by ensuring everyone has enough to live on whilst maintaining their dignity and respect. People deserve that security, and shouldn’t have to spend 40 hours a week in a WINZ office to make that happen. It’s unrealistic, and it’s why we have so many families living in poverty.”

“So that’s part of the solution, but it’s not an instant fix and won’t solve everything. It’s still important that we provide the resources for people to recover from a violent relationship. Part of that involves scrapping punitive benefit sanctions, especially those under section 70A of the Social Security Act which effectively punish children for mothers not naming the father, when one of the biggest reasons single mothers refuse to name the father is due to threats of violence. We shouldn’t be putting survivors in that situation.”

“One initiative we’re pretty proud of is our Domestic Violence Victims’ Protection Bill, which was recently drawn from the ballot and set to be read next term. This is a significant piece of legislation that gives victims of domestic violence more flexibility in the workplace as they leave and recover from a toxic relationship. It will support victims to stay in paid employment, maintaining productivity and reducing recruitment and training costs for employers. The key is that staying in employment is critical for reducing the effects of violence. That employment enables victims to maintain stability in their lives, both domestically and economically, and assisted them to find a pathway to building a better life free from that violence.”

“We know that domestic violence can lead to various kinds of discrimination in terms of employment, due to misconceptions about the experiences of victims and the situations they find themselves in. Abusers can make it difficult for a victim to get to work, or can even target the victim at work. This can be physical, or through abusive calls and emails. This not only poses a threat to the victim, but colleagues and managers as well. Unfortunately, the current legislation may have criteria for forms of workplace violence, but domestic violence struggles to qualify for those criteria.”

“Policy wise, this key piece of legislation will provide up to 10 days of leave every year, which can be used to cover time lost through injury or other impacts of abuse, for counselling, moving house, settling kids into a new school, dealing with the Family Court, or safety planning. Domestic violence needs a society wide response, because it can’t just be left up to the individual and it will take more than just government. So I commend Women’s Refuge for the important and necessary work that you all do. It’s time to partner with more communities to tackle domestic violence, and that’s essentially what that policy will do.”

“So thank you all for your work, and thank you to everyone who has supported this import work and reform. Kia ora.”