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'It's not OK' shines a light on family violence: New Zealand's multipronged campaign succeeds at building awareness and understanding among many target groups.

Article Excerpt
Family violence is a major social problem in New Zealand. Half of all murders are committed by a family member, and on average, 14 women, 10 children and 6 men die as a result of family violence each year. Police deal with approximately 70,000 calls about family violence, but many thousands of cases go unreported.

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Yet qualitative research, including interviews and focus groups with perpetrators and the general public, showed that New Zealanders didn't have a clear understanding of the nature and scope of the problem. There was a strongly held belief that family violence referred to physical violence only. From perpetrators, there was widespread disassociation ("That's not who I am"), justification ("I was provoked") and minimization ("I never hit her").

The research showed a need to demonstrate that family violence is a serious issue for all New Zealanders, and to begin to mobilize social change. In 2005, the government established a multi agency Taskforce for Action on Violence Within Families to address the issue. The result was the Campaign for Action on Family Violence--the "It's Not OK" campaign,...

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