State of the nation peace report

THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND AND THE PEACE FOUNDATION

State of the Nation Report Indicators of Peace and Domestic Violence in New Zealand Gerhard Joseph 1520251 24/10/2014

Table of Contents Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………

2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………...

3 Defining Peace……………………………………………………………………...4 The Global Peace Index’s Indicators of Peace…………………………………………...7 Comparing NZ’s Peacefulness with Other Countries…………………………………….9 Domestic Violence in NZ…………………………………………………………..14 Dealing with Domestic Violence……………………………………………………..20 Conclusions and Recommendations…………………………………………………...23 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………24

Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

Executive Summary This report provides insight into New Zealand’s performance in the Global Peace Index (GPI) in comparison with other countries. The GPI is an annual report published by the Institute for Economics and Peace regarding levels of peacefulness in different countries. It measures peace through 22 different indicators, thus raising the question of whether these indicators sufficiently capture the concept of ‘peace’. This report finds that peace is a difficult concept to define, and many academics have agreed that there are two aspects to peace – a negative and a positive aspect. Negative peace means the absence of violence and the fear of violence; positive peace is having institutions and societal structures in place which promote peace and harmony within the community. Although the GPI only looks into negative peace within countries, it is still a useful tool towards understanding what positive peace looks like.

New Zealand, while ranking fourth in terms of peacefulness according to the GPI, has one of the highest levels of domestic abuse in the OECD. Because domestic abuse is not a specific indicator of peace in the GPI, this report looks at how levels of domestic abuse in New Zealand compares with other similarly ‘peaceful’ countries. Using data from various governmental and intergovernmental agencies, this report finds that while New Zealand does have a high level of domestic abuse, it is not an isolated case. The top countries in the GPI report also have significant levels of domestic abuse – on average, one in three women experience physical or sexual abuse, and 22 per cent of all women suffer physical or sexual abuse from a partner or spouse. This report also finds that there is severe underreporting of domestic abuse due to lack of access, availability and information of services in place for the victims. This also means that there might be a perception within the general public that domestic abuse is more uncommon than what is the reality.

This report acknowledges the fact that it has limitations. The information and data represented in this report comes from a myriad of sources and as such recognises that data can be inaccurate. Therefore, this report recommends that there be more thorough and regular survey into the levels of domestic violence within all countries in order to better reflect the realities of domestic violence, and in order for policy makers to plan and implement better and adequate services. Having regularly updated statistics on levels of domestic violence in New Zealand also provides crucial information to determine how effective the current policies addressing domestic violence are.

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Introduction In June 2014, the 2014 Global Peace Index was released by the Institute for Economic and Peace. The GPI is an annual report, providing an analysis on national peacefulness, as well as calculations on the impact of violence to the global economy. 1 According to the 2014 report, the top five most peaceful countries in the world are Iceland, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Conversely, the least peaceful countries are Somalia, Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria.2 The GPI measures a country’s ‘peacefulness’ through 22 indicators, selected by an international panel of independent experts which are reviewed annually. The 22 different indicators can be categorised under three broad themes: (1) ongoing domestic and international conflict; (2) safety and security in society; and (3) militarisation. 3 While the GPI is a useful tool to illustrate how countries stack up with one another in regards with their levels of peacefulness, the question of whether the GPI is an effective measurement for peace arises. The GPI’s complex methodology and numerous indicators highlight the fact that peace is very difficult to define. There are numerous definitions of peace, the simplest being that it is “the absence of violence”. Based on further research and readings, it becomes clear that this is an inadequate definition of peace. The next section deals with coming up with a definition for peace, and using this definition to analyse whether the GPI truly encapsulates the level of peacefulness within a country.

Of the GPI’s 22 indicators of peace, it can be noted that violence against women and children and poverty levels are some which do not appear. However, these have long been established to contribute to the level of violence within the society. 4 This is especially important for New Zealand, which despite being ranked in the top five most peaceful countries, has been ranked to be at the bottom compared with 22 Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) countries when it comes to domestic violence. A third of New Zealand women have experience sexual violence from their partners from 2000 to 2010 and many 1 “Global Peace Index Methodology,” Vision of Humanity, accessed August 20, 2014,

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/news/920.

2 “Global Peace Index 2014,” Institute for Economics and Peace, accessed August 19, 2014,

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/sites/default/files/2014%20Global%20Peace%20Index %20REPORT.pdf.

3 “Global Peace Index Methodology.”

4 Paul Schwartzentruber, “Measuring Peace: A Critical Appraisal of the Global Peace Index 2010,” in

Peace Magazine 26, no.4 (Oct-Dec 2010), 23.

Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

children have been subjected to or have witnessed some form of abuse within the family. 5 Families are the basic unit of society, and it is crucial to the construction of a child’s understanding of peace and violence. Children continually exposed to domestic violence are more likely to become an abuser or a victim of domestic violence, entrapped in a violent cycle.

This report will look into the levels of domestic violence in New Zealand and compare these with levels in comparable countries. This information will be useful in comparing whether the high levels of domestic violence in New Zealand is an isolated case, or whether there is a worrying trend evident. It will also highlight the need for various governments, policy makers, NGOs, and researchers to provide adequate services to address this alarming issue. Despite the huge amount of research done in this area, it is clear that domestic violence is still ignored and put in the background discussing a country’s peacefulness when compared with international conflicts and issues. This should be addressed and changed if the GPI will be a more accurate indicator of peace within a country. Finally, this report will offer recommendations regarding how one can deal with domestic violence within the community.

Defining Peace Defining peace is very difficult. The GPI, designated as the global leading measure on national peacefulness, defines peace “in terms of harmony achieved by the absence of war or conflict.” This particular idea of peace – that ‘peaceful’ countries deal with violence through peaceful rather than violent means – is attributed to liberal ideologies of peace. 6 Different academics and cultures have different interpretations and definitions for peace. Nevertheless, as with other abstract terms like ‘happiness’, ‘love’, ‘justice,’ and ‘freedom’, ‘peace’ is easily identifiable by what it is not.7 The simplest way of approaching it is in the absence of war or conflict. Applying this concept to international relations, countries which are not involved in any conflict, whether internal or external, and have friendly relations with its neighbouring countries are understood to be in a state of peace.8 The problem with this concept of peace is that it assumes that having an absence of violence (or maintaining low levels of violence) creates a 5 Stuff.co.nz, “NZ Worst for Domestic Violence – UN Report,” July 24, 2011, accessed August 20, 2014,

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5332717/NZ-worst-for-domestic-violence-UN-report.

6 Ursula Lau and Mohamed Seedat, “Towards Rationality: Interposing the Dichotomy between Peace and

Violence,” South African Journal of Psychology 43, no.4 (2013), 485.

7 Charles P. Webel, “Thinking Peace,” in Peace and Conflict Studies: A Reader, eds. Charles P. Webel and

Jorgen Johansen (New York, NY: Routledge, 2012), 67.

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peaceful country or society. However, cease-fires, cold wars, and Texas standoffs, while potentially having none to low levels of violence, do not necessarily create peaceful conditions.

Reduction of violence is a necessary, yet insufficient condition for peace. In these particular conditions, there exists a threat or a fear of violence which would not constitute peace. The second dimension of peace is a “harmony” dimension, which refers to the degree in which individuals, families, groups, communities, or nations are engaged in mutually harmonious relations.9 Johan Galtung has argued that there are two types of peace: negative and positive peace.

Any concept of peace includes the absence of direct violence between states engaged in by the military and others in general; and the absence of massive killings of humans in particular. All these absences of types of violence add up to negative peace. This situation is better than violence, but it is not fully peaceful, because positive peace is missing. Indeed, peace would incomplete without peaceful and harmonious interactions across genders, races, classes and families.10 It is not enough for countries or societies to simply be against war or violence.

Rather, families, communities, and countries should also be in favour of peace. This means that they should reinforce peace in all their interactions and relations with each other through having institutions and societal structures which uphold peaceful values. Therefore, positive peace must be part of a broader effort to rethink the relationship of human beings to each other and to their planet. As difficult as it will be to obtain negative peace, it will even be more challenging to achieve positive peace, since a world without violence would be a significant challenge to our basic way of living.11 ‘Positive’ peace denotes the simultaneous presence of many desirable states of mind and society, such as harmony, justice, and equity.12 The concept negative peace is immediately intuitive and empirically measurable; yet, there are still disagreements with various academics and organisations as to what exactly constitutes positive peace. In any war-torn country, attention to negative peace is evident in the diplomatic emphasis on peacekeeping and stopping violent conflict between the two sides. By 8 Institute for Economics and Peace, “Global Peace Index: 2011 Methodology, Results and Findings,” in

Peace and Conflict Studies: A Reader, eds. Charles P. Webel and Jorgen Johansen (New York, NY: Routledge, 2012), 47-48.

9 Royce Anderson, “A Definition of Peace,” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 10, no.2 (2004),

105-106.

10 Johan Galtung, “Positive and Negative Peace,” in Peace and Conflict Studies: A Reader, eds. Charles P.

Webel and Jorgen Johansen (New York, NY: Routledge, 2012), 75.

11 David P. Barash and Charles P. Webel, Peace and Conflict Studies (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,

2009), 371.

12 Webel, “Thinking Peace,” 67.

Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

contrast, positive peace focuses on peacebuilding, and establishing institutions and social structures which create a more peaceful society. These institutions and structures work continuously to internalise and maintain peaceful conditions within society even with the absence conflict. Negative peace is thus a more conservative goal, whereas positive peace is more active and bolder, implying the creation of something which is non-existent or lacking within the societal structures and institutions in place. Therefore, peace in its positive form is more difficult to articulate, and more difficult to achieve than negative peace. The creation of positive peace is further complicated due to the substantial disagreement about what the goals of positive peace should be.13 The GPI as a measurement of peace as the “absence of violence” can be a starting point into determining what specific cultural attributes and institutions are necessary to build positive peace. In 1999, the UN General Assembly launched a programme of action to build a “culture of peace”. The UN defined a culture of peace as involving values, attitudes, and behaviours that: (1) reject violence; (2) endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing root causes; and (3) aim at solving problems through dialogue and negotiation.14 This is just one of the attempts to articulate what positive peace can potentially look like. Acknowledging that peace should not solely be about the absence of violence, the IEP believes having positive peace means that there are within society set “attitudes, structures, and institutions that underpin peaceful societies.” 15 These are articulated in their Pillars of Peace report. According to this report, there are eight key pillars for peace: “well-functioning government, sound business environment, equitable distribution of resources, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbours, free flow of information, high level of human capital, and low levels of corruption.” 16 These eight pillars are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, meaning the improvement of one pillar could result in improving other pillars and therefore improving peace.17 While this represents an important step towards achieving an empirical framework for measuring and defining positive peace, nevertheless, measuring positive peace is no doubt much harder to define and achieve than negative peace. Since building positive peace is dependent on achieving negative peace first, 13 Barash and Webel, Peace and Conflict Studies, 9.

14 Institute for Economics and Peace, “Global Peace Index: 2011 Methodology, Results and Findings,”

47-48.

15 “What is Peace?,” Vision of Humanity, accessed October 8, 2014,

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/news/1076.

16 “Pillars of Peace,” Vision of Humanity, accessed October 8, 2014,

http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/news/693.

17 Ibid.

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the GPI is still an important research into how countries fare in regards to their levels of negative peace.

Another criticism of defining peace as merely the absence of violence is that it is a predominantly Western idea of peace. Whereas most Western definitions of peace tend to emphasize the absence of violence, Eastern definitions tend to be positive in the sense that peace means the presence of certain characteristics rather than the absence of negative characteristics. In certain Eastern cultures, peace means maintaining harmonious relationships within the family and the local community. Therefore, a truly global understanding of peace should include both the absence of factors such as violence and the presence of factors such as balance, harmony, and unbrokenness.18 Royce Anderson’s peace definition as “a condition in which individuals, families, groups, communities, and/or nations experience low levels of violence and engage in mutually harmonious relationship,” 19 combines both negative and positive aspects of peace, while at the same time reflecting different cultural perspectives of peace.

The Global Peace Index’s Indicators of Peace The GPI comprises 22 indicators of the existence of absence violence or fear of violence. The indicators were originally selected with the assistance of an international panel of independent experts in 2007 and have been reviewed on an annual basis. The 22 indicators fall under three broad categories: (1) ongoing domestic and international conflict; (2) societal safety and security; and (3) militarisation.

Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict • Number of external and internal conflicts fough • Number of deaths from organised conflict (external) • Number of deaths from organised conflict (internal) • Level of organised conflict (internal) • Relations with neighbouring countries Societal Safety and Security • Level of perceived criminality in society • Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the population • Political instability • Political Terror Scale • Terrorist activity • Number of homicides per 100,000 people 18 Anderson, “A Definition of Peace,” 102 19 Ibid., 103.

Gerhard Joseph Zealand • • • •

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

Level of violent crimes Likelihood of violent demonstrations Number of jailed population per 100,000 people Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

Militarisation • Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP • Number of armed-services personnel per 100,000 people • Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as recipient (imports) per 100,000 people • Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as supplier (exports) per 100,000 people • Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions • Nuclear and heavy weapons capability • Ease of access to small arms and light weapons Some authors warn about the dangers of relying too much on the GPI as an absolute measure of peace. Royce Anderson argues that peace is subjective; therefore measures of peace should not only include objectives of peace but also subjective indicators that reflect personal evaluations and experiences of peace. Peace is also a condition that is experienced by individuals and peoples in their daily interactions with one another; it is not just experienced by nations.

Therefore, a truly global measurement of peace should include the full spectrum of interactions – from micro level to macro. Any research will no doubt be limited in scope because of how broad the concept of peace can be, so researchers should define the scope of any particular study by making explicit which particular sort of relationships it focuses on. 20 Applying this to the GPI, one can see that it mainly focuses on macro level relationships, focusing on relationships across different nations.

Paul Schwartzentruber also cautions that: “ranking is a modern, western temptation, satisfying to our sense of progress and development. Yet there are risks in filtering the experience of peace/violence through a ranking system. For one thing, it oversimplifies both the problems and the potential solutions.”21 In the GPI’s case, while it includes some indicators on peace indicators within relationships in society, it should be noted that violence against women and children are not included among the 22 indicators measured by the GPI. In addition, violence portrayed in the media through the news, films, popular entertainment, and even video games, are just some of the ways in which violence is presented to the general population.

20 Ibid., 104-105.

21 Schwartzentruber, “Measuring Peace: A Critical Appraisal of the Global Peace Index 2010,” 23.

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Media can shape norms and values regarding violence, but this is not represented in the GPI. 22 Indeed, empirically measuring how violence is portrayed in media is complicated, but it should be worth keeping in mind when looking at the GPI. While it takes meticulous calculations to do the GPI, it is nevertheless incomplete and do not present the whole picture of violence. Later on, this report will look into the levels of domestic violence within the most peaceful countries according to the GPI. By doing so, this will drive the point that despite being deemed the most peaceful countries, they still experience some forms of violence within their communities.

22 Ibid.

Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

Comparing NZ’s Peacefulness with Other Countries In order to compare New Zealand’s indicators of peace with those of other peaceful countries, I have tabulated in Table 1 the twenty most peaceful countries’ indicators of peace as per the Global Peace Index. In calculating the GPI, the Institute for Economics and Peace measures the level of peacefulness according to 22 specific indicators in each country. Based on data from a wide range of sources, the IEP assign scores on a 1-5 scale for each indicator, one indicating excellent levels of peacefulness and five being the worst. 23 By doing so, I can see which particular indicator New Zealand is doing comparatively well or where it is performing comparatively poorly. In addition, there are also some interesting trends and patterns which are visible in the graph.

One interesting pattern in Table 1 is the level of perceived criminality in society.

Although these countries represent the most peaceful according to the GPI, their respective societies still perceive some level of criminality is occurring. Although the level of violence, homicides, and terrorism in society is really low, there still exists some sort of fear of violence.

Peace is subjective, and it is interesting that despite low levels of violent activities, the possibility of violence grips these societies with some fear. What is also clear is that these countries possess an effective security and police force. All countries have medium levels of police force and this translates into lower levels of violence and terrorism. This may partly be due to the population levels in these countries. As we can see in Figure 1, most of these countries have a population of less than 10 million, and is proof that low levels of population easily translate to better levels of peacefulness. Therefore, it is logical to infer that it is easier for security officers to maintain peace in lower populations and minimise the occurrence of violence.

Another interesting pattern noticeable is that all of the peaceful countries maintain good and peaceful relations with its neighbours. It is interesting to note that most countries in the top 20 are either very geographically isolated like Iceland, New Zealand and Australia, or located in Western Europe or Scandinavia, bordering other similarly peaceful countries thereby making it easy to maintain good relations with neighbouring countries. This result in relatively lower levels of military expenditure and possession of heavy weaponry since they do not fear being in conflict with neighbouring states. At the same time they also contribute largely to peacekeeping missions to foster peace in conflict-ridden states.

23 “Global Peace Index Methodology.”

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As for New Zealand, it is mostly at par with the top countries on its level of peacefulness. New Zealand is slightly better when it comes to possession of nuclear and heavy weapons capacity, no doubt a result of New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance. There is also low access to small weapons in New Zealand, and low levels of arms trade. Conversely, compared with the top 5 countries, it is slightly worse on levels of violent crimes and jailed populations.

Knowing where New Zealand stands in relation with other countries is important in order to address the important issues when it comes to minimising levels of violence. As previously stated in this report, the GPI provides a starting block to build positive peace. The GPI provides each country with important information on which areas it can improve on, and hopefully create policies and institutions which hopefully eliminate or minimise violence, and eventually build positive peace. New Zealand’s relationships and interactions at the macro level (with other countries) are largely peaceful; however, there still is some level of violence at the micro level.

Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New Indicators

Ongoing Domestic and Int'l Conflict No. of external and internal conflict fought No. of deaths from organised conflict (external) No. of deaths from organised conflict (internal) Level of organised conflict (external) Level of organised conflict (internal) Relations with neighbouring countries Societal Safety and Security Level of perceived criminality in society Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the population Political instability Political Terror Scale Terrorist activity Number of homicides per 100,000 people Level of violent crimes Likelihood of violent demonstrations Number of jailed population per 100,000 people Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

Militarisation Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP Number of armed-services personnel per 100,000 people Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as recipient (imports) per 100,000 people Indicators Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions Nuclear and heavy weapons capability Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

ISL

DNK

AUT

NZL

SU I

FIN

CA N

JPN

BE L

NO R

CZE

2 1 1

3 1 1

2 1 1

2 1 1

1 1 1

2 1 1

2 1 1

1 1 1

2 1 1

2 1 1

3 1 2

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 3

1 1

1 1

2 1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 2 1 2

1 1 1.5 1 1 2

1 1.5 1 1 1 1

1.3 1 1.5 1 2 2

1 1 2.5 1 1 1

1.3 1 1 1 2 2

1

1

1

1.5

1

1

1.5

1

1

1

1.5

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

1.4

1.2

1.4

1.2

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.4

1.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1.5

1

1

1

3.5

1

ISL

DNK

AUT

NZL

SU I

FIN

CA N

JPN

BE L

NO R

CZE

1.7

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.3

1.3

1.4

1.6

1.2

1.2

1 1

1.1 1

1.3 2

1 1

1.3 2

1.3 2

1.4 2

2.6 1

1.2 2

1.2 2

1.1 1

Table 1. Indicators of Peace of the twenty most peaceful countries Source: Global Peace Index

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Gerhard Joseph

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New Zealand

Figure 1. Relationship between population size and the level of peacefulness of the top 20 most peaceful countries Source: Global Peace Index

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Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

Domestic Violence in NZ and Other Countries As previously mentioned, domestic violence is not included as a specific indicator in the GPI’s indicators of peace. New Zealand, although being ranked as the fourth most peaceful country in the world, has been ranked by a United Nations report to be at the bottom compared with other Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) countries when it comes to domestic violence. A third of New Zealand women have experience sexual violence from their partners and many children have been subjected to or have witnessed some form of abuse within the family.24 This highlights the limitations of the 22 indicators to fully measure the levels of peace in a country – a country cannot be truly peaceful if a significant proportion of its population is experiencing abuse or fear of being abused.

What is domestic violence? Domestic violence, or family violence, is “defined as any violent act inflicted by one family member on another. It may occur between partners, by parents against children, by children against other children, by children against parents and by adult children against elderly parents.”25 Domestic violence can take on different forms: physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or economic. While domestic violence can be inflicted by one family member to another, it is also common for a spouse or partners in an intimate relationship to inflict violence against one another. The World Health Organisation defines intimate partner violence as the “behaviour by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviours.”26 The high levels of domestic violence in New Zealand reported in the media and presented in the OECD study raise the question whether situation is unique to New Zealand.

What follows is a comparative analysis of statistics on the levels of domestic abuse within various countries, all of which are in the top 20 most peaceful countries according to the GPI. The data collected from various agencies will hopefully shed a light into the levels of domestic violence within these supposedly ‘peaceful’ nations. Before discussing the findings, it is important to note that it was difficult to collect the required data. Therefore, the following statistics is not to be indicative of the true levels of domestic violence in these countries, rather 24 Stuff.co.nz, “NZ Worst for Domestic Violence – UN Report.”

25 “SF3.4 Family Violence,” OECD Family Database, accessed October 13, 2014,

http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/SF3_4_Family_violence_Jan2013.pdf.

26 “Violence against Women,” World Health Organisation, accessed September 26, 2014,

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/.

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Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

it is to be used as a means for comparison and illustration of just how widespread domestic violence potentially is.

Collecting raw data is tough because there is there are differences across nations of whether or not a thorough survey of individual levels of domestic violence is carried out regularly. Statistics New Zealand, for example, did not have any statistics on the level of domestic violence, however, the Australian Bureau of Statistics have conducted a study on the levels of domestic violence in Australia. For New Zealand, statistics presented on the It’s Not Ok campaign website were used, which is a campaign by the Ministry of Social Development to reduce the levels of family violence in New Zealand.27 For the European countries, data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Right’s study on the levels of violence against women across the member states of the European Union were taken.28 The collated data from these various agencies regarding the levels of violence within selected countries are presented in Figures 2, 3 and 4, and discussed below.

Figure 2 graphs the proportion of women who have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime by an intimate partner or spouse. Based on this data, New Zealand and Japan have the highest levels of domestic violence by a partner with 1 in 3 women experiencing some sort of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Denmark, the second ranked peaceful nation is a close second with 32 per cent. On average, 23 per cent of women (roughly 1 in every 5) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a person they are in an intimate relationship with. Figure 3 represents the proportion of women who have experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. As we can see, all countries have displayed an increase in this particular category. Denmark has the highest with 52 per cent, followed by Canada with 50 per cent. In these countries, half of the female population has experienced some sort of abuse from a partner or non-partner in their lifetimes. On average, 35 per cent of women have experienced abuse from either a partner or non-partner. There were no available data for New Zealand in this category, but it can be assumed that it would have a higher number than the initial category since all countries studied have higher levels for the second category compared with the first one.

Figure 3 illustrates the proportion of women who have reported their abuse to the police. All of these countries have a somewhat effective and sizeable police force. Going back to Table 1, these countries have scored well in the GPI’s indicator for the number of security and 27 “About Us,” Family Violence It’s Not Ok, accessed October 14, 2014, http://www.areyouok.org.nz/family-violence/statistics/.

28 “Violence against Women: an EU-wide Survey,” European Agency for Fundamental Rights, accessed

October 14, 2014, http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/vaw-survey-main-results.

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Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

police officers. Nonetheless, in New Zealand, it is estimated that only 18 per cent of domestic abuse is reported to the police. This constitutes more or less only 1 in every 5 instances of abuse are reported to the police. While this statistic is alarming, New Zealand is better than a lot of countries within the study. On average, 15 per cent of cases of domestic abuse are reported.

Denmark which has one of the highest levels of domestic violence also has the least cases reported with only 7 per cent reported to the police. Canada has the highest levels of violence being reported to the police at 22 per cent. This statistic is disturbing because this means that there are a lot of instances of abuse which are not reported to the police. Thus, most of the time people fail to understand just how prevalent domestic violence can be in their society.

Women who experience abuse do not gain access to social services due to shame or simply not knowing who or where to go to, leaving them trapped and vulnerable within the vicious cycle of abuse. As long as domestic violence is underreported, the government will fail to provide adequate services to limit and minimise future instances of abuse. Therefore, we should make sure that everyone is empowered and educated to know that when they experience abuse, there are a variety of services and protection available to them. While this report has focused on physical and sexual abuse which is the easiest form of abuse to be studied and recorded, there are also lots of victims of other forms of abuse, such as psychological. This form of abuse potentially has the most damaging effects and is least reported and studied. Alluding to the one definition of peace as not just the absence of violence, but also the absence of fear, psychological abuse should not be overlooked by policy makers and researchers.

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Gerhard Joseph

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New Zealand

Figure 2. Proportion of Women Experiencing Physical/Sexual Violence by a Partner in their Lifetime Source: Family Violence It’s Not Ok, Australian Bureau of Statistics, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Japan Daily Times, Statistics Canada Figure 2. Proportion of Women Experiencing Physical/Sexual Violence by a Partner or Non-Partner in their Lifetime Source: Family Violence It’s Not Ok, Australian Bureau of Statistics, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Statistics Canada

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Gerhard Joseph

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New Zealand

Figure 3. Proportion of Domestic Violence Reported to the Police Source: Family Violence It’s Not Ok, Australian Bureau of Statistics, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Statistics Canada

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Gerhard Joseph Zealand

State of the Nation Report: Indicators of Peace in New

Dealing with Domestic Violence Domestic violence is clearly a problem that plagues many of the world’s supposedly most peaceful countries, not just New Zealand. Therefore, this problem should be addressed because this represents a significant proportion of the population who live with fear that they might be abused. It has also been identified as a public health issue, which can lead to depression, substance abuse, mental illness, and/or severe injury. However, as mentioned in the previous section, there is a severe underreporting of domestic violence instances to the police or other agencies. In order for governments or agencies to implement adequate resources and policies in response to domestic violence, we should also focus on educating and empowering victims of domestic abuse to seek help when they are being abused. Domestic violence entraps its victims in a continuous cycle of abuse, which causes not only severe health issues for the victim, but also severe repercussions for society.

There are many myths to victims of domestic violence. One of these myths is that a victim of domestic abuse who does not leave her abuser is responsible for her own abuse. This mentality leaves many to blame the victim for having an unconscious desire to be abuse.

According to Yamawaki et. al., this myth not only discourages more victims to leave their abusers, but renders the victims even more vulnerable by feeling isolated and being forced to deal with the abuse on their own. This effectively disempowers victims to leave their abusive relationships. These negative attitudes in society contribute and perpetuate the vicious cycle of domestic violence.29 There are also other reasons why victims do not report their experience of abuse. Some of these reasons could be guilt, shame, lack of access to social services, or simply not knowing who to turn to or what services are available to them. This is why it is crucial for policy makers to focus not just on having services in place to deal with violence, but also to disseminate information to the public about the various services available. So that when people experience domestic violence, they are not afraid to seek for help, thereby reducing the possibility of more and more people being trapped in a cycle of violence and abuse.

Domestic violence not only affects the direct victims of the abuse, children are also extremely vulnerable. Research has constantly demonstrated that children who are exposed to constant abuse and violence between their parents are vulnerable to long-lasting harm. These children exhibit a range of adjustment and anxiety disorders, cognitive and emotional 29 Niwako Yamawaki, et al., “Perceptions of Domestic Violence: The Effects of Domestic Violence

Myths, Victim’s Relationship with Her Abuser, and the Decision to Return to Her Abuser,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27, no.16 (2012), 3206.

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impairments, difficulty in school, social deficits, and aggressive and acting-out disorders. Boys who have witnessed their mother being assaulted by their fathers have a greater likelihood of becoming an abuser when they become adults, and girls have a greater likelihood of becoming a victim of domestic violence when they reach adulthood.30 Maintaining harmonious relationships within the family unit minimises the chance of children becoming abusive adults.

Although a lot of research has been focused on women as victims and men as perpetrators of domestic violence, there is evidence that women are at least as violent as men, and that some men experience similar types of physical abuse. Study on men as victims of domestic violence is not as widely studied, since most cases of abuse against men are unreported due to fear of ridicule or embarrassment, and lack of support, due to the inherent stigma in society regarding men being abused.31 In the previous section, it was mentioned that it was difficult to find reliable statistics on the level of women who experience abuse in their lifetimes.

Additionally, it is even harder to find statistics on men who experience abuse. This phenomenon would be even more underreported. The majority of the male victims reported feeling that they could not talk about their abuse experience to the police, and those who did report the abuse reported not being taken seriously or were accused themselves. According to some male victims, the police even refused to cooperate when the victim wanted to report the violence. 32 Society must ensure that similar support services are available to both male and female victims of domestic violence. Currently, social services are readily available to female and children victims of domestic violence; however, social services are potentially not readily provided to male victims. It is important for society to be aware that men can be victims of domestic violence as well.33 Because there are many different theories as to why domestic abuse occurs, ranging from psychological, sociological and feminist theories, there is no one solution to combat domestic abuse. Since multiple factors cause the problem, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach in order to effectively deal with domestic violence. What is needed is a combination of education and prevention programs, long-term treatment for victims and batterers, and 30 Albert R. Roberts, “Myths, Facts, and Realities Regarding Battered Women and Their Children: An

Overview,” in Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies, ed.

Albert R. Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 14.

31 Babette C. Drijber, Udo J.L. Reijnders, and Manon Ceelen, “Male Victims of Domestic Violence,”

Journal of Family Violence 28 (2013), 173.

32 Ibid., 176.

33 Ibid., 176-177.

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institutional changes that both reduce intimate partner violence and empower victims to overcome abusive relationships. Programs should not only be afforded to victims, but also focus on treating the abuser, and treating the children of abused and abusive parent in order to minimise the chances of the next generation become trapped in the domestic abuse cycle. As these programmes develop, the challenge for researchers and policy makers will be to identify which programs, and/or combination of services provide the most effective approaches for dealing with victims, batterers, and their children.34 In order for this to be done, the government should undertake a more regular survey and study into the levels of domestic violence within the society. By doing so, statistics are up to date and accurate, and policy makers and researchers can easily see whether a particular group of programmes and policies implemented are effective in reducing instances of domesic abuse. Nevertheless, New Zealand has specific policies in place to address domestic violence. Government agencies and NGOs, like Ministry of Social Development, the NZ Police and Women’s Refuge, are working together to make sure victims of abuse are taken care of. NGOs no doubt play a crucial role in the fight to eliminate domestic violence by educating and empowering people within their local communities. Initiatives like the Peace Foundation’s Family Programme educate and empower families to communicate and resolve conflicts peacefully, and not resort to violent means. 35

34 Mary P. Brewster, “Domestic Violence theories, Research, and Practice Implications,” in Handbook of

Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies, ed. Albert R. Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 43-44.

35 “Family Programme,” The Peace Foundation, accessed October 23, 2014,

http://www.peace.net.nz/family-programme-2.

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Conclusions and Recommendations In conclusion, the GPI is an important tool in illustrating how different countries perform compared with other countries in terms of peacefulness. While peace is a difficult concept to define and encapsulate into quantifiable indicators, the GPI is nevertheless important in determining in which specific areas countries can improve on in building its negative peace.

By doing so, this can be a significant step towards establishing institutions and societal structures which can then promote positive peace. It was pointed out that all the top peaceful countries countries have some level of perceived criminality in society which should be addressed. Despite being the most peaceful countries, the general public still feel some threat of criminal activity within their communities which should be addressed in order to create truly peaceful societies. It was observed that the GPI does not include a specific indicator for domestic violence.

New Zealand has been ranked as one of the worst countries in the OECD in terms of domestic violence. Based on statistics from different government agencies, New Zealand has the highest levels of physical/sexual abuse by a partner or spouse against women. One in three New Zealand women has experienced some sort of abuse from a person they are in an intimate relationship with. On average, around 22 per cent of women in the surveyed countries have experienced domestic violence from a partner or spouse. This statistic is alarming because it represents the fact that a significant proportion of the population could be living in fear of being abused. The problem is further compounded by the fact that a majority of domestic violence instances are not reported to the police – on average, only 14 per cent are reported to the police. Going forward, this report recommends that policy makers and researchers focus on: •

• • •

Doing annual surveys into the instances of domestic violence against both men and women in order for everyone to be informed about the realities of domestic violence, and in order to gauge how effective current programmes and policies in place are in eliminating domestic violence.

Ensuring that services are available and accessible to all victims, and empowering and educating victims to seek help and leave abusive relationships to stop the cycle of violence.

Regularly monitoring which policies and services are most effective in minimising domestic violence to come up with better combinations of services in order to deal with the problem.

Researching further to determine institutions and structures which help build positive peace, and possibly integrate these positive peace indicators in the GPI to create a better measurement of the levels of peace within a country.

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