KEY POINTS:
A hardline review of domestic violence has slammed judges who try to reform rather than punish violent men, saying there is no evidence that children need to see their fathers if they are violent.
The two-year study by Waikato University academics Ruth Busch and Neville Robertson says men who are violent to their partners are still getting off with much lesser punishments than they would get if they did the same things to strangers.
They urge automatic arrests for breaches of protection orders and effective punishments for men who fail to complete anti-violence programmes.
They also warn the Government against creating any more specialist Domestic Violence Courts which try to keep families together by convicting and discharging many offenders if they "voluntarily" complete anti-violence courses.
"We still see this old idea that one might be a lousy partner but still bea good dad," said Dr Robertson, apsychologist.
"That flies in the face of what is known to be needed to support children in response to violence.
"I would have thought that the evidence of being a good dad is how you treat the children's mother. All of that is being set aside on the basis that children need their dads."
Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier said the researchers' conclusions were not supported "by either the facts or the law".
"I find this research disappointing because it mostly reflects the biases of its authors," Judge Boshier said.
"Also the dismal claims it makes of the Family Court needlessly obscure the messages in women's voices about their experiences."
The Waikato study was commissioned by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in 2005, 10 years after the present Domestic Violence Act came into force. An earlier study by the same authors recommended changes which were implemented in that act.
Dr Robertson and Dr Busch, an associate professor of law, have found that the 1995 law is fundamentally sound but needs to be tightened to stop judges setting too high a threshold of violence before granting orders.
They also say the law simply needs to be enforced. At present, 43 case studies in their report show that police take no action on many "minor" breaches of protection orders, and judges impose no effective punishment in many cases.
In the 10 years to last year, 90 per cent of breaches were reported by police as "resolved", but only 75 per cent of resolved breaches wereprosecuted, 62 per cent of prosecutions led to convictions, and only 17 per cent of convictions were punishedby imprisonment. "The reality is that virtually nobody gets imprisoned for breaching a protection order," Dr Robertson said.
"We are certainly not advocating that every man convicted of domestic violence needs to go to prison, but there do need to be significant and clear messages about the unacceptability of violence."
In one case, Dr Busch said a man who assaulted his partner, threatened to kill her and possessed dangerous weapons was let off with 180 hours of community work. If he had done the same things to a stranger, he would have received a hefty jail sentence.
She said guidelines for the Domestic Violence Courts issued by Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson stated that "repeated but not escalating violent incidents" should be treated more leniently than "escalating" violence. In practice, the courts were letting such offenders get off without punishment as long as they did a course.
Women's Affairs Minister Lianne Dalziel said the Justice Ministry would consider most of the 47 recommendations in the report and might include them in a discussion document on the Domestic Violence Act.
Chief Judge Johnson said the report's authors did not speak to any judges in the Domestic Violence Courts in Waitakere and Manukau.
"Family Violence Courts are criminal courts that operate according to normal criminal legal processes for hearings and sentences, in accordance with the laws of New Zealand."
He also said the authors had "misunderstood the Family Violence jurisdiction and what actually happens in Family Violence Courts."
