Stopping Violence Services — New Zealand's Court-Linked Network of Non-Violence Programmes for Men

New Zealand delivers court-linked group programmes for men who use family violence through a nationwide network of Ministry of Justice–accredited community providers rather than a single organisation. The oldest identified provider, Stopping Violence Services Christchurch Inc., has operated continuously since 1983; the current MoJ accreditation and funding framework for these 'non-violence programmes' was reorganised from 2014 onward.
Referral is mixed: men can be mandated to attend via a Family or Criminal Court order or Community Probation supervision, or can self-refer. Programmes are typically delivered as 8-week psychoeducational group courses, though researchers in the field argue a minimum of 20 weeks is needed for durable change. As of the early 2020s, 48 MoJ-approved providers operated nationally, with state agencies referring more than 9,000 people (around 90% men) into stopping-violence programmes annually, and combined Ministry of Justice and Corrections funding exceeding NZ$24 million a year. One major provider, Friendship House Trust, processed 500–1,000 men a year, averaging 439 court referrals annually over a five-year period from mid-2018.
A Ministry of Justice evaluation of programmes offered since 2014 found that non-violence programmes reduced reoffending among participants and that skilled facilitation and Kaupapa Māori cultural approaches were associated with stronger outcomes, though it did not publish a specific quantified recidivism rate. Independent scrutiny has been more sceptical: a 2016 New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse policy paper by Devon Polaschek described the national response to perpetrators as 'piecemeal and insufficient,' and sector leaders, including a major provider's own chief executive, have publicly cautioned that programme completion is not the same as demonstrated behaviour change. This is a genuinely contested evidence base rather than a clean success story, and is represented here on that basis.

Read the full analysis: https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/07/30/how-effective-are-mens-non-violence-programmes/