Family violence could treble after quake

Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Domestic violence in Canterbury could double or even treble following Saturday's magnitude 7.1 quake, a Massey University disaster researcher says.

Dr Rosalind Houghton's estimate was based on research she conducted after major North Island floods in 2004 and a South Island snowstorm in 2006.

Many women reported abuse became more frequent and more severe after extreme weather events, said Dr Houghton, who works for Massey's school of psychology.

An increase in domestic violence could be expected for at least a year due to people struggling to cope after the quake, Dr Houghton told the New Zealand Doctor magazine.

Research carried out at Victoria University found 66 per cent of women who sought help after the South Canterbury snowstorm said the abuse had been going on for two to 10 years.

Meanwhile, three Christchurch women's refuges had reported an increase in calls.

The offices of the Otautahi and Christchurch refuges were cordoned off in the damaged part of the central business district.

Otautahi's safe house, for Maori women, had just one woman resident but staff were also supporting two families.

Christchurch Women's Refuge spokeswoman Julie McCloy estimated calls were up 10 per cent as tensions escalated.

Many families were confined together, had no work or school to go to, and were worried about their homes and jobs, she said.

Ms McCloy said all the extra stresses led to increased domestic violence.

Meanwhile the Battered Women's Trust had been running a "duty refuge" but had to close the damaged house and arrange for the one woman resident to stay elsewhere.

Manager Lois Herbert reported about 20 per cent more calls than normal.

Ms Herbert said alternative accommodation needed to be planned for families unable to go to general emergency shelters who feared their abuser might be there.

"A lot of our women wouldn't go to a community shelter because of a perception of lack of safety," she told New Zealand Doctor.

- NZPA