Symposium: Working with Sexual Abuse - a community solution to a community problem

Good morning and thank you for inviting me here today to deliver the opening address at the Working with Sexual Abuse Conference.

I would first like to acknowledge and thank the organisers for co-ordinating this symposium. I appreciate the huge amount of work that goes into events like this.

This symposium is timely as this Sunday marks the beginning of Rape Awareness Week.

Those who wonder why raising public awareness of sexual violence is important need look no further than these two stark facts:

1. An estimated 90 percent of sexual offences go unreported.
2. Even when they do go to police only 8 per cent of sexual violence cases result in a conviction.

Sexual violence is one of the most pernicious forms of crime. The psychological trauma that sexual violence causes not only to victims but also to victims' families and friends is complex and often misunderstood.

Sexual violence is also one of the most costly crimes for the health, social and justice sectors. Treasury estimates sexual violence costs the economy $1.2 billion each year, making it by far the most costly crime per incident.

I am sad to say, that for many victims of sexual violence, participation in the criminal justice system can be a painful and traumatic process. The rebrutalisation of victims that sometimes occurs in the courtroom can and does lead to victims withdrawing from proceedings. In some cases, the fear of court can be enough to prevent people from laying a complaint altogether.

We have to do better for victims and create a culture where people are not afraid to come forward.

The Government has already taken some steps to provide survivors with greater support.  From July 1 a new court support service for victims of sexual violence will begin being rolled out. By mid 2012, that service will consist of 18 specialist victim advisors based at courts across the country, on hand to advise sexual violence victims and provide the support they need.

In January this year, the Government introduced a new discretionary grant to provide additional financial assistance to victims of sexual violence. That grant of $250 is available to help cover the cost of expenses incurred as a result of sexual violence, such as replacing items of clothing collected for forensic evidence.

Information resources are also being developed to shed light on the criminal court process and the support services available to victims of serious crime. This will include information specific to the needs of victims of sexual violence.

I believe these are significant steps, and I am proud of the work that the Ministry of Justice and some here today have done in developing these solutions. However these steps do not, in and of themselves, provide a complete solution to the issue at hand.

There are of course no easy solutions when it comes to sexual violence. In this respect, the Government is grateful for the guidance of Te Ohaaki a Hine - National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together - TOAH NNEST.

TOAH NNEST, as a part of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, is responsible for the most comprehensive roadmap on sexual violence prevention and services that any Government has ever received. The respect that the Government holds for TOAH NNEST's expertise and experience is reflected in the fact that I and other Ministers meet with them on a quarterly basis.  We intend to continue to with these meetings over the coming year as we develop our response to the Taskforce's report.

The Taskforce's final report made 70 recommendations including that the Government prioritise efforts to improve sexual violence services to victims, promote responsiveness in the criminal justice system and consider long term investment in prevention in sexual violence.

That report has been crucial in laying the foundation for government and community organisations to work together on this issue and I'm confident the report will continue to be a rich source of information for us for years to come.

I know you are eager for the Government to provide its formal response to the report as soon as possible. I can assure you work is underway across at least 10 different agencies, but the development of a co-ordinated response is taking time.

It's a piece of work we must get right to ensure our solution is sustainable and enduring. It needs to be thoughtful and substantive.

Developing that response also comes at a time when Government agencies are faced with needing to do more with less.

What I can tell you is that progress is being made particularly in the justice and social development portfolios.

Developing that response requires strong leadership and collaboration.

I am therefore pleased to announce the Minister of Social Development, Hon Paula Bennett and her Associate Minister, Hon Tariana Turia will be joining me in leading the Government's response to sexual violence.

As the Minister for Social Development Minister Bennett will focus primarily on operational and service delivery aspects of the government's sexual violence work. She has already begun work on a stock take of Government spending on specialised sexual violence services. The terms of reference are expected to be finalised soon, and she expects to report back by the end of the year. The aim of the stock-take is to build on TOAH NNEST's work, establish what the Government is already purchasing, what the current and long term demands for services will be, identifying opportunities for efficiency and effectiveness and considering future funding options.

Minister Turia also has an important role to play and is keen to tie this work in with work she is already doing in the area of family violence and Whānau Ora.

Ministers will be taking a paper to Cabinet very soon directing the Ministry of Social Development to lead a project to address the most effective way to deliver sexual violence services in the community this year.

But again it will take time to get this right.

The Government is also investigating other avenues to make sexual violence victims' engagement with various areas of the state less confrontational.

I am deeply concerned the current adversarial system is re-brutalising victims so in June this year I will be visiting Germany and Austria to see first-hand how inquisitorial systems of justice deal with sexual violence cases. My visit links in with the work that the Law Commission and New Zealand Law Foundation are doing on inquisitorial systems.

I'm making this trip with a view towards analysing whether, and to what extent such systems may be appropriate in New Zealand.

I've chosen to visit Germany and Austria because they each have distinct and distinguishable approaches. Austria has a traditional inquisitorial system where the Court's role is to do everything in its power to establish the facts including carrying out its own investigations if necessary. Germany, on the other hand, has more of a hybrid system which incorporates both inquisitorial and adversarial approaches.

Court procedure aside, I believe it's important that we as a country take a first principles look at what is driving sexual offending in the first place.

Last December, Cabinet agreed to make addressing the drivers of crime a whole-of-government priority. The four initial priority areas are antenatal, maternity and early parenting support, programmes to address behavioural problems in young children, alternative pathways to managing low level offenders and reducing the harm caused by alcohol.

You will have seen this week that the Law Commission has just released its ground-up report on New Zealand's alcohol laws. A third of all offences are committed after the offender has consumed alcohol there's no surprise I intend to move swiftly on the report's recommendations.

I believe drivers of crime work on alcohol will over time make a difference.

The Criminal Procedure Simplification Project will also help to deliver timely justice to victims, witnesses, and defendants.

When it has taken around 12 months to get to a district court trial, and 16 ½ months to get to a High Court jury trial, we know we have a problem.

Work is currently underway on a raft of proposals including:

• Restricting availability of jury trials, and potentially raising the jury trial threshold to offences of more than three years.

• Requiring counsel to discuss cases in an attempt to resolve them, so unnecessary court appearances can be avoided and trial time can be shortened.

• Requiring the defence to identify issues in dispute so the court can focus on those issues at trial.

• Ensuring that all pre-trial matters are adequately dealt with before trial; and

• Legislation to enable greater use of audio-visual links in courts.

This is a big piece of work, but it is progressing well.

But here and now what you need is an assurance that the Government not only backs your work, but is prepared to pay for it.

That's why I've asked the Ministry of Justice to reprioritise $1 million over the next two years for Sexual Violence Prevention Education programmes. I'm aware that planning and strategising for long term prevention funding is important, but that starts with focussing on delivery of effective programmes and initiatives in our communities now.

The Ministries of Justice and Social Development will also be providing ongoing funding for the survivor advocate role which has proved so valuable for so many survivors and their families. I'm pleased to announce that funding for this position has been approved for a further three years.

I'm pleased ongoing funding has been found for these services despite tough economic times and I am confident they will make a real difference to victims of sexual violence.

In closing, thank you to those of you who are on the front line who invest you time and a great deal of personal energy into understanding and preventing sexual violence, and into helping survivors pick up the pieces after it occurs.

I acknowledge the importance of these forums in building the relationship between Government and the sexual violence sector.

The Government recognises the serious impacts sexual violence has in New Zealand and recognises the work you do. It's clear we have a long way to go, but together we are taking steps in the right direction.