"We have more men referring themselves to our programme.
"Often we say, 'Why don't women leave?' The other question we should be asking is, 'Why doesn't he stop beating his wife or why doesn't he stop family violence?"' he said.
"If there's more men coming forward, then it stands that women will be safer. [And] if women are safe, then generally the children will be safe."
Mr Byford's message was simple: "Man up and accept responsibility."
Nationally, close to 90,000 domestic violence incidents were reported in the past year - more than 240 each day.
A similar number of calls were made to the Women's Refuge hotline during the same period - with nearly 86,000 crisis calls received. Twenty-three family violence deaths were investigated by police.
Women's Refuge chief executive Heather Henare said the sad statistics were just the tip of the iceberg. "Only 20 per cent of domestic violence is actually reported to police in this country - there's only 5 per cent take-up of protection orders."
To address violence against women, that had to change, Ms Henare said.
"There's a lot of emphasis at the moment around women needing to make better decisions.
"It's still putting the responsibility of the violence back in the women's hands - that's what's the most frustrating thing.
"The only people that can stop violence to women in this country are the men that are doing it."
Sunday marked the 21st anniversary of international White Ribbon Day, which aims to eliminate violence toward women.
Brian Gardner of the National Network of Stopping Violence, Te Kupenga, said anti-violence measures had to protect both women and children in vulnerable situations.