A United States Government report on human rights practices has painted New Zealand as a country with a serious and growing problem of domestic violence.
The annual country-by-country US State Department report also highlights New Zealand's problems with child abuse, complaints against the police and discrimination on the grounds of disability.
The report - which came under fire from a Cabinet minister last night - said assaults by men against women rose by more than 5 per cent between the year ending June 2000 and last year - from 6956 to 7324.
The number of breaches of the Domestic Protection Act rose from 4200 in 2000 to 4429 last year, the report said.
It painted a grim picture of violence by Maori men against Maori women, quoting statistics - from a 1994 public health study - that showed Maori women aged 15 to 24 were seven times more likely than non-Maori women to be admitted to hospital as a result of domestic assault.
Of the 6000 men prosecuted in 1998 for family violence, Maori made up 41 per cent of those convicted of assaulting a woman and 43 per cent of those convicted of assaulting a child.
Child abuse gained significant attention in the report, with reference to 2370 cases of physical abuse, 1412 cases of sexual abuse, and 2424 cases of severe emotional abuse of children notified to Child, Youth and Family.
It noted that in August 2000, the Government instituted an expanded programme of information-sharing between the courts and health and child-protection agencies to identify at-risk children. Notifications to child-protection agencies of at-risk children rose by 30 per cent in the programme's first month. Notifications for the year rose 4 per cent.
Last night, Women's Affairs Minister Laila Harre took issue with the report. She queried the conclusion that an increase in reporting of domestic violence equated to an increase in violence.
She said a lot had been done to improve police responsiveness to domestic violence complaints, which had led to an increase in reporting.
"I don't feel despondent," she said. "The incidence of violence is still incredibly high ... but I doubt that we compare badly to the US itself - who haven't ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"I think it's a bit rich for them to be commenting on our record on children and child abuse."
Since the Domestic Violence Act was passed in 1995, the treatment of victims and help for perpetrators of domestic violence had improved.
"Those programmes provided for Maori by Maori are among the most effective and have the best outcomes."
Laila Harre said she would follow up the report. It seemed to be a very unhelpful document in terms of saying what was actually happening.
"I will find out what processes ... they followed to pontificate on the human rights records of countries like ours."
The report also highlighted domestic violence in Australia and several Pacific Island nations.
- NZPA, staff reporter