KEY POINTS:
Until bad weather forced to their removal last night, eight giant ribbons of white sail cloth hung from the old Auckland City Hospital building, illuminated by floodlights.
The ribbons carried - albeit briefly - a stark message for those at the root of New Zealand's domestic violence
epidemic: it's time to stop.
The billowing expanses of cloth were a symbolic gesture of support for today's White Ribbon Day.
White Ribbon Day began in Canada 17 years ago, and has been officially adopted by the United Nations as its International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Through the giant hospital ribbons it is also serving to remind New Zealand of the prevalence of violence against children in the home.
But there is steel behind the Auckland District Health Board's cloth symbolism. In the last two years it has begun a series of strategies to intervene in domestic violence, before it is too late for the victims.
Of the 35 children in the health board's catchment that died at the hands of an adult from 2000 to 2005, most were younger than 3 years old and most were unknown to Child, Youth and Family when their injuries occurred. But virtually all of those children had been seen by a public-health professional before their deaths: a midwife, Plunket nurse, or family doctor.
That reality forced the health board to re-evaluate its role in preventing child abuse, Starship hospital's child abuse centre clinical director Dr Patrick Kelly said.
The board now includes a routine family violence screening programme, introduced across women's and children's health and now being made available to wider community health organisations, including general practice.
Staff members now went through a checklist relating to the health history of the woman or child.
They also asked whether the woman was affected by family violence. The screening programme meant the health board could do more to encourage and support those who came to them and were experiencing family violence, allowing them to receive the help they needed.
Since May every child under 14 in the ADHB area that has come into the care of CYF has received a full medical check-up by a paediatrician.
New Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the vast majority of kiwi men were "decent blokes, loving dads, and caring partners".
"But there is no escaping grim statistics that show most violence by men against women takes place in the home. I hope this campaign encourages men to challenge each other on violent attitudes and behaviour."
Dr Kelly said it was the most basic public health mantra - to intervene before people needed serious health care. "We are the fence at the top of the cliff, through which these children can no longer fall to their deaths."
* Shameful facts
White Ribbon Day is the international day when people wear a white ribbon to show that they do not condone violence towards women.
There are more than 3500 convictions recorded against men for assaults on women each year.
Half of all murders in New Zealand are due to family violence.
On average 14 New Zealand women each year are killed by their partners or ex-partners.
Police deal with more than 70,000 family violence calls a year, but estimate only 18 per cent of incidents are reported.
One in five women will experience sexual assault or sexual interference at some point in their lives.
