annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

professionals involved; however, they did encounter delays and problems with interagencycollaboration, support, control and provision of information. The paper suggests that people’sperceptions of the investigation process could be enhanced with time management tominimise delays, interagency collaboration, sensitive interactions and adequate provision ofinformation and support.Davis, W. (2004). Gender bias, fathers’ rights, domestic violence and the Family Court. ButterworthsFamily Law Journal, 4(12), 299-312.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13018.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Perpetrators/offenders, Victims/survivors,Justice, Protection orders, Care and contact, Legislation, Gender, Policy, Prevention/intervention/treatmentAbstract: This article examines the accusations of gender bias in the Family Court in NewZealand. In the 1990s, the most common claim was a gender bias against women; however,more recently the focus has shifted and accusations of a gender bias in favour of women havebeen increasing in volume. It is claimed that it is too easy for women to attain protectionorders; that women gain these orders so as to acquire tactical advantages in custody disputes,and that large numbers of fathers are being deprived of contact with their children. Theseclaims have achieved credibility in the courts despite a lack of quantitative or qualitativeresearch to support them. The author points out that the easy acceptance of fathers’ rightsdiscourse, despite a lack of evidence to back up claims, indicates that a traditional bias againstwomen within the justice system is still operating.The introduction of the Domestic Violence Act (1995) was to clarify the definition ofdomestic violence, and to regulate Judges’ scope as to their decision-making. The authorhighlights that contrary to some claims, it has recently become much harder to obtain aprotection order without notice, and in fact, a greater proportion of protection orders appliedfor without notice are being put on notice by the courts. As for whether women are usingprotection orders strategically, Judges have been quoted as saying they find this happening;however, the Law Commission found no evidence of this and neither did the Ministry ofJustice in their research into the accusations. In addressing whether the legislation destroysrelationships between parents and children, the author argues that a continued relationshipwith a violent parent has costs for the child. The article concludes that fathers’ rights groupshave influenced the attitudes of Family Courts quite strongly, and they have done so withoutevidence upon which to base their claims. It recommends that whilst courts and legislationneed to change with society, the changes should not be based on one particular interestgroup’s opinions.Dawkins, K. (2001). Criminal law. New Zealand Law Review, (3), 317-355.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12985.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Justice, LegislationAbstract: This article explores various legislative Acts and amendments to them. Ofparticular interest to the field of family violence is the section "Compulsion by Threats andDuress of Circumstances". This discusses the relationship between the statutory defence of‘compulsion by threats’, under s24 of the Crimes Act (1961), and the common law defence of‘duress of circumstance’. This is when an individual who is being abused by a partner feelscompelled to commit a crime because they are being threatened by their abusive partner.However, when the individual commits the crime, the abusive partner is not present.44