Logie Jan: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: General Debate[Sitting date: 09 April 2014. Volume:697;Page:17060. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green):“We do not reward courage with refusal.” This is a quote from one of the support services that made a submission to the Social Services Committee inquiry into the funding of sexual violence services. The Green Party believes that all New Zealanders deserve good lives and a safe future. Courageous advocates and survivors have been telling this House for decades what they need. Sadly all too many more have been suffering in silence and too many more again have lost their lives while they have been waiting for action from this House.Domestic violence and sexual violence are at epidemic levels in this country. One in three women is likely to experience domestic violence in her lifetime. One in four girls and one in eight boys are likely to be sexually abused in this country. Like most people in this House and in this country I carry stories of sexual and domestic violence with me as part of me. This issue is personal; it is not abstract. It takes incredible courage for victims to disclose abuse. It also takes incredible courage for abusers to admit fault or seek help. It takes a peculiar form of resilience for those working in these sectors to keep hopeful to keep going and to keep giving us another chance to fix this for their communities.As a Parliament this is our opportunity to all come together and reward courageous women and men with support through sexual violence services funding and also I propose through workplace protections for victims of domestic violence. I hold great hope for the select committee inquiry into funding proposed by Alfred Ngaro and me and supported by Labour and the Government. I hope that it will give New Zealand a cross-party solution and a sustainable solution for sexual violence so that everyone can finally get the right help and the reward for their courage. It has been suggested to me that we could see a major turn-round in the levels of violence in this country within just 10 years if we started on this now. Surely—surely—that is a future worth coming together for.Last week I also proposed a member’s bill to help victims of domestic violence keep their jobs because sadly at the moment all too many of them are losing them or having to leave them because of the behaviour of their violent partners. This bill would also offer support for employers to be able to help their staff who are experiencing domestic violence. I put this bill forward because I know that domestic violence is a huge problem in this country and one that I believe that every member of this House wants to solve. This bill offers really practical solutions to help businesses and help victims in the workplace because it has a huge impact on our workplaces at the moment. Victims are being harassed stalked and assaulted in workplaces at the moment.The Public Service Association commissioned some New Zealand research by economist Suzanne Snively which found that by conservative accounting New Zealand businesses are losing $368 million a year in productivity from the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace. But even if employers had to pay for implementing all the provisions in my bill—and I think there is an argument for ACC doing it instead for much of it—businesses would still with all those costs be making $150 million within 10 years through productivity gains. For me this is another thing that we can come together on because it will save money in the income support budget it will protect victims and it will increase workplace productivity—win win win.I hope this House will come together to ensure that we can make New Zealand a great and safe place for every New Zealander. Kia ora koutou.