South Auckland’s Victim Support system is struggling to cope with steadily increasing number of domestic violence cases in the ethnic Indian community and is appealing to the local Indian community to join in as volunteers to offer timely and meaningful help to victims.
Sam Tuaoi, Victim Support Coordinator based at the Otahuhu Police Station, which is responsible for suburbs like Mangere, Otahuhu, Papatoetoe, Middlemore Hospital and surrounds, told Indian Weekender earlier this week that of the 20 or so domestic violence call outs the station receives on a typical average night, as many as 5 – or nearly 20 per cent – are from ethnic Indian households.
The problem was rife and growing in both the Fiji Indian community and Indians from India and other parts of the world, Mr Tuaoi said. With the Fijian Indian community, most cases tended to relate to abuse of the female partner by the male and his family.
“There is an overwhelming number of cases where Fijian Indian women who have chosen the ‘arranged marriage’ route to get into New Zealand to gain permanent residency status here are exploited, abused and then threatened with dire consequences if they dared to speak out,” Julie Lakshman, who manages administration work for Victim Support at the Otahuhu Police Station said.
A large number of cases concerned blackmail – threatening to withdraw sponsorship support in the immigration process or to disown the partner thereby stranding her with neither financial resources nor shelter and so on, she added, pointing to one case where a young woman recently married and newly arrived in New Zealand was turned out of her house by her husband and his family at 1am.
In several cases, reconciliation is reached out of court leading to a withdrawal of charges by the victim but unfortunately both Constables Rees and Tuiliua said there was a significant incidence of reoffending and charges being pressed all over again.
The area’s victim support system has only three volunteers at present and none of these are ethnic Indians. “It is important to have someone in the team who understands the language, the social mores and context to better understand and assess the underlying dynamics of the situation clearly,” Community Constable Corey Rees told Indian Weekender.
“It is easier and more productive for someone who is familiar with Indian languages and cultural practices to be at the scene to assist the team assess the situation as well as put the victim at ease and help make decisions for immediate relief,” Community Constable Mike Tuilua added. “It is definitely better for an Indian to be part of the team at an Indian household where there is a situation than say, someone who is Maori, Pacific Islander or Pakeha.”
Referring to the increase in the number of cases in recent times, Constable Rees said that though incidences of family violence were always there, more people are now aware of options for a way out and are less averse to speaking about it and contacting the call centre for help. Traditionally, victims were more disposed to suffer in silence so as not to hurt their situation any further or in the interests of the family’s “reputation” in the neighbourhood and among peers, he said. “But now more people have begun to open their mouth and find their voice.”
Explaining the role of Victim Support volunteers, Mr Tuaoi said that those wishing to join would receive a comprehensive training course on developing a range of skills over a period of about six weeks. The training is offered free of cost and once complete volunteers are rostered to be on call about once a week. Costs incurred by volunteers during the course of their volunteering work such as transportation are reimbursed, he said.
The next intake and training programme is scheduled to start in mid November and the Otahuhu team hopes it will receive expressions of interest from community-minded Indians from the area to join in the programme and get trained as volunteers equipped to offer valuable support to the increasing numbers of victims.
Indian Weekender joins the New Zealand Police and Victim Support in appealing to the community to spread the word and get community minded individuals to consider volunteering and helping out particularly Indian victims, with whom they would have a natural empathy and cultural familiarity.
You can start by having a chat with Sam Tuaoi by calling him on 027-2240427 or visiting the Otahuhu Police Station on Great South Road, Otahuhu. More information can be accessed at www.victimsupport.org.nz
Meanwhile Bharatiya Mandir Temple has met Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong about starting a family violence 0800 line. They propose to use their own funding in the beginning.
The New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) has also been looking at setting up a similar project but due to a lack of funding, this has been put on hold.