KEY POINTS:
One of the families implicated in the horrific death of toddler Nia Glassie is looking to weed out other family members who they suspect could be potential child abusers.
The 3-year-old Rotorua toddler died on August 3 at Starship children's hospital in Auckland after spending almost two weeks in a coma following months of abuse. The case has sparked a national outcry about child abuse.
Five people have been charged in connection with her death - including three members of the Curtis whanau, which has strong ties to Rotorua, where Nia lived.
Police say William Curtis, 47, abused Nia over three months - while Curtis' son Michael William Curtis, 21, his partner Oriwa Terrina Kemp, 17, and Michael John Pearson, 19, are also charged with assaulting her from July 18 to 20.
None of the four has yet entered a plea.
It is understood that Kemp has connections with the Black Power gang.
The fifth accused, Nia's stepfather, Wiremu Curtis, 17, is on bail and due to reappear in Auckland District Court this week.
A spokesman for the Curtis family, Toby Curtis, told the Herald on Sunday the whanau had met twice to discuss Nia's death and was working on a plan to address some of the very serious issues that had been raised.
Nia's death had come as a shock to the whanau, and the family's possible involvement was a complete surprise, Toby Curtis said.
Curtis' son, Mikaere Curtis, a cousin of William Curtis and uncle to Wiremu and Michael Curtis, suspects there may be other cases of abuse involving whanau members.
"This is an opportunity to look at some of the wider issues impacting on our whanau," Mikaere Curtis said. "I think it's fair to say that Nia probably wasn't the only person who has been abused by a whanau member."
There were at least 300 family members and it was important to look closely at everyone to ensure this sort of thing did not occur again, he said.
He accepted it would be a difficult and time-consuming task, but there was a determination within the family to "confront our issues".
He believed the solution to child abuse was for families to take responsibility "and that's what we are doing here".
Violence was not acceptable in society in any shape or form and that was a message that would be reinforced within the Curtis whanau, he said.
Police are still investigating Nia's death and it is likely more charges will be laid in the coming weeks.
Two children have already been interviewed by detectives and more witnesses, including neighbours who claim they saw Nia screaming on the roof of the Frank St house, will be spoken to.
Police have also confirmed they are investigating whether Nia's two older sisters were abused during their time in the house.
Nia was laid to rest last week at an emotionally-charged tangi in Tokoroa attended by both her parents' families - the Kukas and the Glassies.
Nia's mother, Lisa Kuka, claimed she was unaware of the abuse her daughter had been subjected to.
Nia's father, Glassie Glassie Jnr, flew from Australia after his daughter was hospitalised and it is understood he was now seeking custody of the other three children he shares with Kuka.
Nia's brother, Jerome, 11, lives with his parents. Her two sisters live with Kuka's sister, Donna. Glassie has no history with CYF.
CYF deputy chief executive Ray Smith said the agency was reluctant to comment about the case as it did not want to do anything to jeopardise police and court efforts to hold the people responsible to account.
He did not want to comment about whether CYF was aware Kemp had connections to the Black Power gang, but said many children lived in "gang-related households".
"It is important to know that children are not taken into care because of their parents' family connections, religion, etc, but because they have been, or are, at risk of serious neglect or abuse," he said. "While some may not approve of certain parents' lifestyle, as long as they are nurturing and protecting their children, then Child, Youth and Family has no justification to be involved with their lives."
More than half NZ children see or experience abuse
"I've been punched, grabbed by the throat and hung over a trellis and then thrown on the concrete," one child says.
"I have been hit by a steel bar," says another; and a young girl says: "I had to watch my best friend... drop her pants in front of a man and have him smash a beer bottle in her face."
Thousands of New Zealand children have horror stories like this, according to new research by Janis Carroll-Lind, a Massey University child abuse expert - who says 63 per cent of children have been abused in some way.
Although New Zealand is ranked as the third worst among 27 OECD nations for child deaths, behind Mexico and the United States, there has been no suggestion from previous figures that abuse rates are so high in this country.
New Zealand's diagnosed rate for head injuries to infants under the age of 2 caused by child abuse is 22 per 100,000 - which is comparable with the rest of the world. However, for Maori children the figure is the highest in the world, at between 50 and 60 infants per 100,000.
"In terms of physical and emotional bullying, it's likely New Zealand is topping the Western world," said Carroll-Lind.
Carroll-Lind surveyed 2077 children, aged 8 to 14, from 28 schools - and was stunned at what they told her. Her study was the first she knew of that described the violence in childrens' own words.
"I was really surprised at the level of violence in New Zealand - most of the public would know that we're a violent country now but I didn't really expect to see our stats up there with countries like the United States."
In the PhD survey, examining children's experiences of violence and how it affected them, 63 per cent of children said they had directly experienced physical violence - 372 of those had experienced it 10 or more times.
Sexual violence statistics were high too - 11 per cent of children said they had directly experienced sexual violence, while 7 per cent said they had witnessed adults being abused.
Ten per cent said they had seen other children being asked to perform unwanted sexual activities, or having unwanted sexual touching; and 64 per cent said they had seen sexual violence in media.
In their own words
"What made me afraid was my step dad put a hole in the door to get into my room and got in and winded me. That was real scary."
"A girl wouldn't let me sit by her because she said you are an Indian. I am an Indian. When I was with my friends and she said I am a piece of dirt."
"I've been hit with metal or any objects my parents pick up. My Dad abused my Mum when I was young."
"I watched my aunty and my dad fighting with knives inside at night."
"I get hidings all the time and some people hurt me."
