Deaths and assaults highlight specific family violence support needs in ethnic communities

The deaths of two women in Wellington, and a man being charged for serious assaults on his 15 year old daughter in Auckland, have highlighted the specific support needs of women and children from ethnic communities experiencing family violence.

Mei Fan was killed in her Miramar home in November 2013. Two weeks later, Sarwan Lata Singh was found dead in her Woodridge driveway. Both women had taken out protection orders.

Shakti Community Council, which specialises in domestic violence intervention and prevention for Asian, African and Middle Eastern communities, organised a vigil for the two women in Wellington on 17 December 2013.

Shakti runs four refuges for women and children from ethnic minority communities - two in Auckland, one in Tauranga and one in Christchurch - but not in Wellington. Shakti said it has been advocating for a culturally-specialist and appropriate safe house and violence intervention services for Asian, African and Middle Eastern women and children in Wellington for three years and needs urgent funding to set them up.

In Auckland, the father of a 15-year-old Muslim teenager was arrested in December 2013 after allegedly beating her, locking her in the house and forcing her to hide her facial injuries beneath a burqa she would not usually wear.

Shasha Ali, spokesperson for Shakti, said the allegations were an example of honour-based violence and not to do with religion.

"It definitely has nothing to do with a particular faith. It's really to do with culture. That culture of gender oppression ... of double standards on gender roles."

"These incidents ... [like] having a smoke at school you see this in mainstream New Zealand with young people. It's an ongoing tension within any culture. But when there's a culture where children are seen as the property of the father ... there's really minimal room for young people to grow and integrate into mainstream society."