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The United Nations could send a Special Rapporteur to look at domestic violence if non-governmental organisations ask it to.
The National Council of Women of New Zealand said yesterday the rapporteur could be sent if New Zealand NGOs took up a Committee on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recommendation.
The Algerian member of the committee, which Women's Affairs Minister Lianne Dalziel will address today, raised the possibility of a visit by the Special Rapporteur to look at violence against women in New Zealand.
The call followed New Zealand NGOs telling the committee about the level of violence against women.
Ms Dalziel will make a 30-minute speech to the committee, updating it on developments and outlining initiatives and spend the rest of the day answering questions.
In 2005, Special Rapporteur Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen spent nine days in the country preparing a report which criticised how Treaty of Waitangi settlements were handled and called for the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
The Government dismissed it as inaccurate and unbalanced while some Maori said it reflected reality.
- NZPA
