KEY POINTS:
A senior police officer is urging people to make child abuse as socially
unacceptable as drink-driving.
"Twenty years ago drink-driving was okay," said Detective Inspector
John Tims, the officer who headed the investigation into the death of 3- month-old twins Chris and Cru Kahui.
"Today it's a no. We need the same campaign for child abuse.
"We really need to get it out there and make people feel uncomfortable about it. If people become uncomfortable and they report it and we protect children that way, then that's a positive."
His view is backed by Crown prosecutor Phil Hamlin who has prosecuted
many of the child homicides, including the recent case in which 10-month-old baby girl Jyniah Te Awa was hung from a door, left in a freezer, swung by her hair and thrown head first across the bedroom.
Mr Hamlin recalls campaigns from years ago in which the message
"never shake a baby" was frequently in the public domain. These days there was nothing on television or billboards.
While a hardhitting campaign specifically against child abuse - not just
family violence - would help keep the message in the public domain, agencies working to combat the problem say they also need support from the public.
"People can't hide from the fact that it is happening but we need support from the community," said Mr Tims. "We need people to
come forward and report it."
While police do their best, they are often the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. They say they need the community acting as their eyes and ears so measures can be taken to prevent child abuse.
That means neighbours and relatives reporting abuse - even if it is only
suspected.
Police and social services say they would rather investigate the sound of a crying or upset child and find a legitimate reason for distress than turn up several weeks or months later to find a critically injured child.
"It's a difficult crime to investigate and that's why we need the support of the families, the neighbours and the community as a whole," said Mr Tims.
"I think people out there just need to say, like family violence, enough's enough ... and actually come forward and step up and have the moral responsibility to actually come forward and say what they have seen."
Children's Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro believes one of the underlying threads of physical abuse is the attitudes towards young people - something that also needs to change.
She said while punishment was fine, smacking and other forms of violence were not okay.
"I think we have got to get a clear [message] through to people that all forms of violence against children is unacceptable. Let's not try to justify it."
