ACC Changes to Sexual Abuse Counselling

December 2009 - Reclaim the Night

On the 27th of November, the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) joined many others in Wellington to reclaim the night and march against violence towards women.

NCWNZ National President, Elizabeth Bang, gave a speech at the beginning of the march, as did Labour's Lynne Pillay and Gay Puketapu-Andrewson. All made mention of the changes to ACC for sexual violence survivors.

"I am also extremely concerned about the changes that ACC have made recently to their processes which are proving to confirm our fears that women & children would stop accessing sexual abuse counselling through ACC," said Gay Puketapu-Andrewson, Counsellor, Superviser and Educator.

"The MWA research, aptly named restoring soul has identified the importance of women & children experiencing belief, acceptance and validation as essential in their healing journey. The ACC changes are in complete contradiction to this in that their stories of assault are subject to professional scrutiny and they are put in a position of having to prove just how badly they have been affected so that they can be labelled mentally unwell. And at the end of which they may be told that they don't qualify and are, therefore not entitled to funded counselling. I am still reeling from this nightmare as I am sure many others are."

A full copy of the speech made by Gay Puketapu-Andrews can be downloaded here.

Lynne Pillay also addressed the audience and spoke of the changes to ACC.

"I want to congratulate the organisers of the March, the counsellors and the clinicians for their staunch advocacy regarding the cuts from the Sensitive Claims Unit of ACC. I also want to acknowledge all the organisations who work so hard supporting and empowering women and families and getting the message out that any form of violence is not OK," said Lynne Pillay.

"Most of all I want to acknowledge the victims and survivors of sexual abuse who have shown tremendous courage in overcoming horrific experiences and now in telling their stories. The cuts to support to victims/survivors of sexual abuse are the cruellest of all the cuts we have seen the National government impose to date and we must all stand together to challenge this harsh agenda. It is shameful and their will be no winners - in our families, communities or in our nation."

For more information download Lynne Pillay's November newsletter here.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand

• 1 in 3 women will experience physical or sexual violence from a partner in their life
• 99% of sexual violence incidents reported to the Police are perpetrated by men
• 95% of them on women
• A woman is killed in a domestic violence incident every 3 ½ weeks
• 92% of protection orders are taken out by women
• 1 in 3 women report sexual harassment in the workplace