Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Protection order breaches rise

By Lydia Anderson and Teuila Fuatai
Bay of Plenty Times·
25 Aug, 2013 10:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga Court House.

Tauranga Court House.

Breaches of protection orders are rising in the Western Bay, with victims commonly at risk of stalking or text and cyberbullying from offenders.

Living Without Violence Collective manager Mary Beresford-Jones said, based on anecdotal evidence, women were reluctant to report breached orders for so-called nice actions such as texts from an offender saying "I just think you're so beautiful", or flowers turning up on the doorstep.

"[It] comes across as 'Mr Perfect' and that confuses women who feel mean reporting those breaches."

The number of protection orders issued in the Tauranga District Court had risen from 96 in 2008 to 115 in 2012.

Reported breaches in that time had risen from 113 to 144.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mrs Beresford-Jones said orders were a useful tool for protecting women and children as long as they were used and enforced.

The most chronic type of breaches she had seen involved stalking, with repeated phone calls or drive-bys by offenders.

"Stalking is actually an indicator of high risk, so we say to women to always listen to their gut ... even if they're just asking police to keep a record.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said some women had come home to find their household objects moved around.

"It's quite nasty mind games stuff that when asked he will completely deny it and it becomes really difficult to prove it's a breach."

Tauranga Women's Refuge manager Angela Warren-Clark said women with protection orders should enter a free domestic violence programme to understand how to use orders.

"We think, basically, a protection order will only ever be a piece of paper unless they are empowered to use it and understand how to use it."

Discover more

Editorial: Tough penalty needed

26 Aug 09:00 PM

Most of the women coming through the Tauranga safe house had experienced physical violence, along with emotional and financial abuse, she said.

Many women were experiencing "really horrible" cyber or text-bullying.

Ms Warren-Clark said one positive development was the number of community members stepping up to report violence in their neighbourhood.

Police family violence co-ordinator for the Western Bay of Plenty, Detective Sergeant Jason Perry, said the increase in protection orders and breaches was likely because judges in a criminal court now had the ability to issue the orders, where previously they were able to be obtained only through the family court. "Police have a focus on family violence as it's one of our five drivers of crime.

"We have put resources into trying to reduce the harm - one of the ways we've been trying to do that is being active around breaches of protection orders."

Another reason for the increase in protection orders issued was the increased awareness thanks to campaigns in the media such as "It's Not OK", Mr Perry said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"If people are able to seek help there are a lot of agencies active in the community trying to reduce family violence.

"People at risk are now getting that help and are being supported through the process of applying for protection orders. There's a real awareness in the community now about family violence."

While the number of orders imposed nationwide during the past five years increased by 14 per cent, the high rate of convictions and overall breaches - there were 3005 in 2012 - suggests long-standing concerns around the effectiveness of orders have not been addressed.

Family law expert Ruth Busch, a former associate law professor at Waikato University and co-author of the 2007 state-funded Living At the Cutting Edge report on protection orders, told the Bay of Plenty Times trivialisation of breaches in the court system was a major factor in the high breach rate.

Tougher penalties had to be imposed on those who breached to protect New Zealand's vulnerable women, children and men, she said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Bay of Plenty Times

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

Peter was trapped under a tractor for hours on his Mangakino farm.

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM
Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

03 Jul 11:48 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP