Heavyweight help for child abuse campaign

Rodney So'oialo, wife Marilyn and 4-year-old Tiana at the launch. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Campaigners hoping to stamp out child abuse enlisted heavyweight help yesterday when they launched the Kids Are Unbeatable campaign.

Jigsaw, formerly the Child Abuse Prevention Service, celebrated its new name and new campaign with the help of All Black number eight Rodney So'oialo, with wife Marilyn and their daughter Tiana. Those attending the event in Wellington's Civic Square were serenaded by local chart-toppers Fat Freddy's Drop.

The society was formed in 1983 to link groups working to eliminate child abuse and family violence. Chief executive Liz Kinley said the organisation's name had been changed to reflect its new direction, which would see it move from crisis intervention to prevention and early intervention.

"We want it to be the norm for ordinary people everywhere to challenge all forms of violence in families and to take a stand against child abuse by protecting and nurturing New Zealand's children," said Ms Kinley.

She said Jigsaw's role was "to help New Zealanders find the path forward, moving from shame to pride. To do that we need to stop accepting violence as an everyday part of our society and focus on creating peace at all levels in our family and community life".

Last year Jigsaw's 0800 child abuse prevention line took more than 2000 calls from people worried about the safety of children. It is the only specialised non-government child abuse prevention line in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, a Unicef New Zealand report says child domestic violence policy is under-resourced and small scale. The report, Behind Closed Doors, estimates 18,000 to 35,000 children a year are exposed to family violence.

Released last night, the report cites statistics taken between 2001 and 2005. It finds that a quarter of 26-year-olds in New Zealand experienced violence or threats of violence from one parent against another while growing up. One in 10 reported more than five acts of physical violence.

It says 55,000 children were present at family violence incidents attended by police in 2002-03.

It says policy initiatives to meet the needs of children living with domestic violence are poorly integrated and not fully implemented or evaluated.