"We applaud the
government for
the work they are about to undertake in domestic
violence against women and especially children" he
said, "but it is important that the government and
the public realize that domestic violence is not only
contained to two groups within the community".
A recent meeting he attended at the Ministry of
Social Development aimed at investigating same
sex domestic violence highlighted that same sex
partnerships had similar rates of domestic violence
to heterosexual partnerships". Mr. Denney said "for a
number of reasons these cases had a lower visibility
and reporting rates and were misunderstood by
health professionals".
Domestic violence for Gay, Lesbian Transgender and
Bisexual (GLTB) people occurs not only from their
same sex partner but often by family and whanau
who are unable to accept the differences within the
family and the family member’s orientation. "Too
often domestic violence is seen as a gender issue,
when in reality it is an issue across gender race and
sexual orientation" he says.
"Recent New Zealand studies show that GLTB people
do not turn to health practitioners rather they tend
to use friends as support networks" He said. "It is
sometimes difficult for people who are not open about
their sexuality to openly discuss domestic violence
with a health professional" he said.
The government is providing a large amount of
funding in its current domestic violence programmes
and the recent Same Sex Domestic Violence meeting
was a first step in identifying the prevalence of same
sex domestic violence" said Neil Denney. "In an effort
to ensure the government has well informed advice
from all sections of the community those present
at the Ministry meeting will investigate the issue
further".
The meeting had representatives from a diverse
range of organisations including the Ministry of Social
Development Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender
Policy Team, NZ Police, Women’s Refuge, Nga Pae o te
Marama, Auckland Regional Public Health and Shakti
Community Council.
"The GLTB community believes that the government
is taking a good first step however its terms of
reference need to be broadened to include all sections
of the community to give a more balanced picture of
the problem" said Neil Denney.
