Family Integrity

Author: HEF Admin

  • Police Confirm Prosecutions For Smacking

    MEDIA RELEASE
    19 December 2008

    Police Confirm Prosecutions For Smacking

    LAW CONFIRMED AS SPECTACULAR FAILURE
    Latest figures on police activity following the anti-smacking law confirm that police are wasting valuable police time and resources investigating unwarranted complaints against parents, but they also confirm that they are prosecuting parents for smacking.

    “There has been a 30% blow-out in total CYF notifications in the last 12 months to just under 100,000, a 27% increase in referrals by police to CYF, and an increase in police investigations for smacking since the amendment. Yet the number of cases warranting further investigation by CYF has declined!” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “Most concerning is that parents have been prosecuted or referred to CYF for minor smacking. Our fears of prosecutions have been confirmed.”

    “Sadly, the rate of ‘child assault’ prosecutions is decreasing and actual child abusers are not being caught and the ‘roll of horror’ of child abuse deaths continues with cases including 16 month old Sachin Dhani, 22-month-old Tyla-Maree Darryl Flynn, 3 year old Nia Glassie, Ten-month-old Jyniah Mary Te Awa, Two-month-old Tahani Mahomed, 3 year old Dylan Hohepa Tonga Rimoni, and 7-year-old Duwayne Toetu Taote Pailegutu.”

    “Green MP Sue Bradford is quite correct. She said ‘The epidemic of child abuse and child violence in this country continues – sadly. My bill was never intended to solve that problem.’ We agree.”

    “You know a law is completely ineffectual when the proponents applaud it because of its lack of impact and the problem and rate of child abuse remains,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    Family First is calling on the National government to amend the law so that non-abusive smacking is not a crime, and good parents are not victims of a law which should be targeted more effectively at child abusers.

    ENDS
    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:
    Bob McCoskrie – National Director
    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Mother sentenced after toddler chokes to death

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4797276a11.html

    Mother sentenced after toddler chokes to death

    Thursday, 18 December 2008

    A Dunedin mother of five who killed her 22-month-old daughter earlier this year escaped a custodial sentence today.

    The 27-year-old, who has permanent name suppression, admitted infanticide after an initial charge of murder was dropped.

    She hit and smothered the girl for crying incessantly, leading to her choking to death on regurgitated food.

    In Dunedin High Court today, Justice Graham Panckhurst said the woman could not be held fully responsible as she was severely depressed at the time of the attack.

    He sentenced her to two years’ intensive supervision and 100 hours of community work.

  • Doctors get $5m to okay abortions

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4795186a11.html

    Doctors get $5m to okay abortions

    The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 17 December 2008

    Doctors who approved abortions were paid more than $5 million in the year to June an increase of $1.5 million or more than 30 per cent in four years.

    The Abortion Supervisory Committee’s annual report says there were 18,382 abortions in 2007, 448 more than in 2006.

    Every abortion must be approved by two doctors, one of whom must be a gynaecologist or obstetrician. In the year to June, the Government paid 196 certifying consultants a total of $5,048,096.

    Abortions are legal in New Zealand under certain conditions, including when pregnancy would endanger the mother’s life, her physical or mental health, or if there is a risk of the foetus being handicapped. More than 98 per cent of abortions are authorised on the grounds of risk to mental health.

    Earlier, a High Court judicial review found there was reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions and that the committee was wrong to interpret the law as meaning it had no power to review consultants’ decisions.

    The committee has appealed against the ruling and the anti-abortion lobby group Right to Life, which brought the High Court challenge, has cross-appealed. The case is likely to be heard early next year.

    New Zealand has 19.6 abortions a year per 1000 women aged 15-44.

  • Welfare schemes ‘struggling’

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4795187a11.html

    Welfare schemes ‘struggling’

    By BEN FAWKES – The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 17 December 2008

    Obesity, poverty and drug abuse are gobbling up billions of dollars in state funding as “short-sighted” welfare programmes struggle to deal with society’s most deprived people, the new Government has been told.

    Briefing papers prepared by a panel of state agency chief executives for Social Development Minister Paula Bennett say inter-agency co-operation is disjointed because of an absence of leadership and direction.

    “The combined effect of this has been a long-term under-investment in resilience building, prevention and early intervention initiatives.

    “This means we are spending more on remedial interventions than is ultimately necessary.”

    Of the $43 billion spent each year on state social services, more than $30 billion was spent on “social protection” – looking after people during times of hardship or crisis.

    “Some of this spending could have been avoided if more had been invested in high-quality, future-focused forms of spending to build resilience and prevent problems escalating and becoming entrenched,” the papers said.

    Included in the amount was about half a billion dollars spent annually on obesity-related healthcare costs, the $894 million spent this year on the rising prison population and $380 million spent on child and youth care and protection.

    The briefing also predicted that demand for social services would increase, as an aging population and low standards of living in Maori and Pacific Island communities placed greater demand on state resources. This could be exacerbated by tax cuts planned by the Government.

    Ms Bennett said the Government was committed to pulling the most deprived people out of poverty and would adopt a long-term approach to the problem.

    “I want to make sure the Social Development Ministry is focused on its core responsibilities in the years ahead, in particular those families stuck in long-term poverty. I don’t underestimate the challenges associated with this, but I intend to make it a priority.”

    She was also concerned that no single government agency had clear accountability for good parenting.

  • Mum stole paper round money, punched girl

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4794853a12855.html

    Mum stole paper round money, punched girl

    By MICHELLE DUFF – Manawatu Standard | Tuesday, 16 December 2008

    A woman who demanded her 9-year-old daughter’s paper round money before punching her in the back of the head did it because she was “stressed”, a court has heard.

    The 34-year-old solo mother pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on a child in Dannevirke District court yesterday, for the incident on December 1.

    The court heard how at 9am, the Dannevirke beneficiary stormed into her daughter’s room and demanded the cash the girl had made from her paper run.

    When she refused the woman began to shout, and an argument ensued.

    As the girl left the bedroom the woman followed her down the hallway and punched her in the back of the head with a closed fist, the court was told.

    The girl fell to the ground where the woman began kicking her “numerous times” in the back, before she managed to scramble up and out of the house.

    She ran to an address down the road, where police were called.

    When spoken to by police the woman admitted all the evidence given by her daughter was true, and said in her defence: “I have been really stressed about a lot of things, and I just lost it.”

    The girl was removed from the home by Child, Youth and Family, and is staying with an aunt. It was a condition of the woman’s bail she have no contact with her daughter and refrain from consuming alcohol, the court heard.

    Judge Jennifer Binns convicted the woman of assault, remanding her for sentencing until February 26 so a victim impact statement could be prepared.

    She amended the bail conditions so the woman could see her daughter in supervised visits. “I’ve seen these cases before, and sometimes it’s detrimental if there is no contact at all.”

    The maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment.

  • Research Shows Need for Renewed Debate on Abortion

    MEDIA RELEASE

    1 November 2008

    Research Shows Need for Renewed Debate on Abortion

    Family First NZ says that the building body of evidence about the potential harm of abortion to the mother means that the debate on the abortion should be reopened.

    The University of Otago study found that women who had an abortion faced a 30% increase in the risk of developing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

    “Yet this message is nothing new or controversial. It is consistent with research worldwide which is being done into the effects of abortion,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    Last week, a study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research also found a link between abortion and psychiatric disorders and refuted a American Psychiatric Association report released in August claiming abortion causes no mental health issues for women. The research team found induced abortions resulted in increased risks for a myriad of mental health problems ranging from anxiety to depression to substance abuse disorders.

    In 2007, an Australian research team from the University of Queensland found a close connection between abortion and drug and alcohol abuse. And earlier this year, The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK recommended updating abortion information leaflets to include details of the risks of depression. They said that consent could not be informed without the provision of adequate and appropriate information.

    “With 98% of abortions in NZ being performed on the basis of the mental health of the mother, it is time that the research on the post-abortion mental health outcomes was given equal weight with the pre-abortion claims.”

    “Along with protecting the rights of the unborn child, we need to protect the rights of women to know the medical facts in order that they can make fully informed decisions,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    Family First NZ is calling for a law which requires informed consent (including ultrasound) for all potential abortions, and counselling to be provided only by non-providers of abortion services. Parental notification of teenage pregnancy and abortion should happen automatically except in exceptional circumstances approved by the court.

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Babies paraded as parents’ fashion accessories

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4787188a1861.html

    Babies paraded as parents’ fashion accessories

    CURMUDGEON – KARL DU FRESNE

    The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 09 December 2008

    Who would want to be a small child in the 21st century? Virtually from the moment of birth you’d be given the message that other people’s needs take priority over yours.

    Within hours of being born, you’re bundled out of hospital because the health system considers there are more important things to do with the health dollar than allow new mothers time to bond with their babies. Mother struggling with breast-feeding? No support at home? Tough. Out you go.

    Before you’re a few months old you’re likely to find yourself being left at a creche each morning so that Mum can go to work, because a relentlessly acquisitive, consumerist society has convinced a generation of parents that owning a flash house, driving a late-model car and pursuing a career are more important than raising their children.

    At weekends, you’re liable to find yourself being dressed in cute designer-label clothes and dragged off to a trendy cafe, where you’re expected to behave yourself patiently while your parents slurp latte and read the Sunday paper.

    And on the rare occasions when you’re taken for a walk in a pushchair – or baby-buggy, to use the cutesy-wutesy name now preferred – you’re propelled toward a procession of bewildering, and possibly frightening, strangers.

    The recent report of a Dundee University study that showed forward-facing pushchairs might impair children’s development shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone.

    When a small child is facing its parent there is constant interaction between the two. The Dundee study found, predictably, that this stimulated brain development.

    Conversely, the study concluded that babies facing away from the pusher could be “emotionally impoverished” and even suffer stress. The language is a bit melodramatic but the message is simple enough.

    There are obvious practical reasons, too, why the rear-facing pushchair is preferable. It means that whoever’s pushing can see instantly if anything is wrong, such as the child choking or being dazzled by the sun, or a wasp landing on its face.

    But the vagaries of fashion dictate that the forward-facing buggy is the way to go. Forward-facing pushchairs are now so prevalent that it’s hard to find an old- fashioned one in which the child faces the pusher.

    I suspect the appeal of the forward-facing pushchair has more to do with the gratification of parents than with the comfort and wellbeing of the child.

    Couples are delaying having children because their careers take priority. When they finally get around to it, they often behave as if this most basic biological feat is something no one has ever accomplished before.

    The child then becomes an advertisement for the parents, a fashion accessory to be shown off for maximum advantage. This is accomplished far more effectively when the unfortunate infant is facing forward.

  • Child force-fed wasabi and mustard, court hears

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4786639a11.html

    Child force-fed wasabi and mustard, court hears

    By GLENN McLEAN – Taranaki Daily News | Tuesday, 09 December 2008

    A Taranaki real estate agent charged with serious child abuse has been accused of force feeding a child spoonfuls of wasabi and mustard.

    The agent, who has interim name suppression, denied five charges of assaulting a child, as well as charges of ill treating a child and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

    The agent appeared in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday for a depositions hearing that is expected to finish today.

    Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke said the agent is accused of deliberately slamming a door on a child’s hand, punching a child in the head and stomach, bending her fingers back, force feeding the child mustard, the hot Japanese condiment wasabi and hand soap, as well as making the child drink perfume.

    Ms Clarke said the offending was punishment for the girl after she forgot to do things like get the washing in or wipe down a bench.

    After the police got involved the child was taken out of the defendant’s home.

    It was after that happened the Crown says the accused put a block on the child’s cellphone and told her that it would only be unblocked if she told police or the defendant’s lawyer that she was making the accusations up.

    Two child witnesses were called to give evidence yesterday.

    The first, a friend of the alleged victim, told the court she had seen the accused force a teaspoon of wasabi into the mouth of the girl.

    “She was trying to spit it out because it was so hot,” the witness said.

    The young witness, who was giving evidence from behind a screen, also saw the accused punch her friend, slam the door on her hand, as well as forcing her to “basically do all the jobs you have to do in the house”.

    The second witness, the complainant in the case, said she never told anyone about the abuse because she thought she would get teased.

    She denied making the accusations up when cross-examined by defence counsel Kylie Pascoe, although she admitted running away from home and stealing money from people at school.

  • Masked man stabbed my boy – Mum

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4779974a11.html

    Masked man stabbed my boy – Mum

    Waikato Times | Tuesday, 02 December 2008

    A teenage mother accused of stabbing her two-year-old son says the boy was attacked by a masked man who forced his way into her home.

    Kim Knoll, 19, is charged with attempting to murder her son at her Te Aroha home on May 5 this year by stabbing him with a boning knife.

    She also faces an alternative count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

    At the start of her trial at the High Court in Hamilton yesterday, Crown prosecutor Louella Dunn told the court that Knoll had given two differing accounts of how her son received his stab wound.

    The Crown alleges Knoll stabbed her son in the stomach at her Centennial Ave home and then tried to suffocate him with a pillow.

    Ms Dunn told the jury that in an interview with police, Knoll said she had been confronted by a masked man in a nearby park on the day of the incident.

    The man had been armed with a knife and demanded money.

    Later that day, Knoll said, the man turned up at her home and forced his way into her bedroom where he stabbed her son and then tried to suffocate him.

    In a second statement, however, Knoll said a tattooed man named “Wally” had accidentally stabbed the toddler while playing with a knife in her bedroom.

    When her son started screaming, Knoll told police she “didn’t know what to do” and put a pillow over his face to stop him screaming.

    The Crown alleges Knoll’s brother witnessed her smothering the toddler when he walked into her bedroom.

    A few minutes later Knoll’s father returned home and found his grandson gasping for breath and blue in the face. He also had a wound across his stomach.

    The child was taken to a Te Aroha emergency clinic and then on to Waikato Hospital.

    The boy has since made a full recovery.

    The court heard that Knoll and her family emigrated from South Africa two years ago.

    Ms Dunn said that leading up to the alleged stabbing, Knoll had experienced “personal problems” with her ex-boyfriend, Jayden Te Moananui, and her older sister, Blanche Knoll.

    Knoll had dated Mr Moananui early in the year and was allegedly distressed to discover he was dating her sister. On the day of the alleged stabbing, Knoll had confronted her sister about the relationship.

    The Crown planned to call 12 witnesses in the week-long trial before Justice Andrews and a jury of three men and nine women.

  • Explosion in CYF Notifications But Missing Abuse

    MEDIA RELEASE

    December 2008

    Explosion in CYF Notifications But Missing Abuse

    Latest figures show we’re narking on the wrong people.

    Family First NZ says that CYF’s limited resources are being wasted and non-abusive parents are being targeted, with a ‘blow-out’ in CYF notifications but the levels of actual abuse not increasing.

    CYF has received more than 93,200 notifications this year – up from 32,000 in the 2002–2003 period – and a 30% increase on the 2007 year. Yet actual child abuse being uncovered has shown no corresponding increase.

    In Palmerston North, notifications went up from 2341 to 2691, but identified cases actually dropped from 879 to 826. Waikato figures reported in the Waikato Times in August showed an increase of notifications from 5,973 to 8,629 but those requiring further action have fallen from 3729 to 3308 that same year.

    “If the increase in notifications was leading to the identification of actual child abuse which was previously being missed, this would be entirely appropriate and warranted – but it’s not. CYF is chasing its tail trying to deal with the huge explosion in notifications over the past five years but children are no safer from adults who actually are abusing them,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “We all want the public to feel compelled to report child abuse when they see it, but the ideologically flawed anti-smacking law has resulted in unwarranted reports of good parents which is a waste of the limited resources of CYF and the Police. Good families are being narked on because we have confused appropriate and reasonable parental discipline and correction with violence and assault,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    “CYF and Police resources should be focusing their energies and resources on the real causes of child abuse – including drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and family breakdown and dysfunction.”

    Family First NZ continues to call on the politicians to change the law so that non-abusive smacking is not a crime (as wanted by more than 80% of NZ’ers according to recent research), and a non-political Commission of Enquiry that identifies and treats the real causes of child abuse.

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42