11. Question No. 11—Prevention of Family and Sexual ViolenceKAREN CHHOUR (ACT) to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual ViolenceQuestion No. 11—Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence11. KAREN CHHOUR (ACT) to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence: Does she stand by her statement The Government is committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating family violence and sexual violence"; if so why as at 29 March had she received no briefings on family or sexual violence within emergency and transitional housing?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence) (remote): I really thank the member for her interest in our work to reduce and eliminate family violence and sexual violence and my office will shortly invite her to a briefing to discuss it. In answer to the first part of the question I do stand by my statement and am committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating family violence and sexual violence. Every instance of violence is one that I take seriously. In answer to the second part of the question as Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence I am responsible for leading the whole-of-Government approach to substantially prevent reduce and address these forms of violence. I discuss issues like the member raised with my ministerial colleagues. What I already know is that we have issues in Aotearoa with these forms of violence throughout all of our communities. My focus is on implementing Te Aorerekura a strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence as a whole-of-Government response because everyone should be safe in their homes no matter where they are staying or living.Karen Chhour: Supplementary?DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'm going to give the member an extra question. The part on the briefing was not to my satisfaction clearly addressed so the member can have one extra question.Karen Chhour: Is the Minister aware of any statistics being recorded and compiled on instances of sexual and family violence in emergency and transitional housing?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: It's an important question and any questions related to housing specifically would need to be raised with the responsible Ministers to discuss in their relevant portfolio capacities. As the Minister for the prevention of family violence and sexual violence we know that inadequate housing and violence are interrelated issues and we cannot solve one without solving the other. Violence against women is a leading cause of housing insecurity and women are at a substantially increased risk of crime victimisation including physical and sexual violence.Karen Chhour: Will she commit to asking the police Minister to ensure statistics of instances of sexual and family violence within emergency and transitional housing are routinely recorded and compiled?DEPUTY SPEAKER: In so far as the Minister has responsibility the Hon Marama Davidson.Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: We know we do not yet have all the information we need about this longstanding issue. I receive advice and briefings relevant to my role leading the whole-of-Government response. Reporting of instances of family violence and sexual violence is primarily held by police and is provided in regular updates to me as part of the broader picture of violence across all of Aotearoa. We are working to evolve our understanding of these issues and bring together a collaborative learning system. This will enable us to have better more robust data. We know right now that for many decades we have not had good data to be able to know the fullest and true extent of the family violence and sexual violence that is happening across homes in Aotearoa New Zealand.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Minister has addressed that question.Karen Chhour: What action did the Minister take after it was reported that a young woman was referred by Work and Income to accommodation where she "as the only woman there felt intimidated by a group of men drinking alcohol outside her bedroom" and after telling her case manager she felt unsafe was advised to simply spend the day in a local library just two days before she was raped in her bedroom?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Firstly it is an important question and should also be directed to the Ministers with the exact delegation responsibility particularly for Ministry of Social Development processing issues. Notwithstanding that as the Minister for the broader prevention responsibility of family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa I am aware and know that any instance of violence anywhere that it is happening is not acceptable and is not good enough for any of us in this House to accept. What I am aware of is that I am told by those responsible Ministers' officers however that there are clear communications and standards that have been put in place for all housing and social service providers to ensure that people know when and how to report any instances of violence. What I also know as the Minister for the prevention of family violence and sexual violence is we have work to do to improve the trust and increase the trust that people have across all of our services including Government and NGO sector so that people have better faith to be able to put their hand up for help and so that they receive—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The Minister has definitely addressed the question.Karen Chhour: How can she ensure that our vulnerable people in emergency and transitional housing are being kept adequately provided for when there is no recording or collation of relevant data; and what is she doing about it?DEPUTY SPEAKER: Again in so far as the Minister has responsibility—I've got some doubts about that but the Hon Marama Davidson.Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Well again that is an important question and should be directly relayed to the correct ministerial portfolios who are overseeing those areas of Government service. That withstanding as the Minister for the prevention of family violence and sexual violence I know that we need to improve all of our data and information systems our robust reporting systems and that is an absolute priority under Te Aorerekura the elimination strategy.David Seymour: Point of order Mr Speaker. I hope I can assist. The question was not about the Minister's responsibility for the provision of data; it was: what action is she taking in her portfolio as Minister given that data is not available? Now she didn't address that question at all.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I believe she did."