Logie Jan: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Victims of Crime Reform Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 06 March 2014. Volume:696;Page:16450. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green): The Green Party is supporting the Victims of Crime Reform Bill because we support victims. On the eve of International Women’s Day I need to challenge the Government’s grand claims to be taking crime and victims’ rights seriously. When more than one-quarter of New Zealand women are likely to experience domestic violence and sexual violence in their lifetime we know we have a serious problem. This is what drives crime in this country. We know that only one in 100 victims of sexual violence is likely to see a conviction in our courts. We know that police are likely to be called out to an incident of domestic violence more than once every 10 minutes. This is the shame of our country.So what has this Government done to support these victims that it claims to champion? Well it has finally brought back this bill after 4 years of languishing on the Order Paper and it has paid for a resource around culture not being an excuse for abuse which we think is fabulous even though it has refused to increase funding to the much-needed culturally appropriate services for victims. It is thinking about putting cameras on police officers GPS on some offenders and locks on some victims’ homes—never mind when those victims have to put out the rubbish or their washing.It has introduced sexual violence court advisers though not in a way that met the Law Commission’s recommendations. That is the kind of package of what it has done. Then it has reversed three Cabinet decisions that were aimed at helping child witnesses. It has reduced access to legal aid and now many women are paying thousands of dollars for protection orders. The Government has failed to ensure that these very protection orders that women are paying so much for are actually enforced by the courts.It has made changes to the Family Court to save money rather than fixing the really well-documented problems of victims of domestic violence. It has introduced Family Court fees of almost $900. It has removed the Bristol clause which was meant to protect children from domestic violence. It has allowed police to change reporting so we cannot monitor the statistics. It has stopped work on improving the court system for victims of sexual violence even though there was so much support for a lot of the provisions in that. It has cut funding to prevent sexual violence though we hope to turn that round through the inquiry but some organisations have fallen over in the meantime. It has failed to seriously fund rape prevention education. It has allowed the numbers of perpetrators being referred for treatment to decline. It has effectively cut funding to refuges and has not recognised or supported the need for increased support in Christchurch. It has let the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families basically stagnate. And Housing New Zealand evicted victims of domestic violence for damages done by their abusers. The Green Party believes that all women and children have the right to be safe in this country and that requires a comprehensive approach not this piecemeal token pathetic attempt to cover up inaction.