A government-funded report into domestic violence has found half of all homicides in New Zealand are family violence-related and urges the government to take radical steps to turn that around, Radio New Zealand reports.
The independent Family Violence Death Review committee has analysed the deaths of the 126 people killed by a member of their own family between 2009 and 2012. Of all homicides in that time, 47 percent were family violence deaths
In nearly all the deaths where someone was killed by their partner there was a known history of abuse.
Review committee chair Associate Professor Julia Tolmie said the system simply was not providing enough support for victims of family violence.
"The most disheartening death reviews for me to read are ones were the woman is quite clearly fighting for her life," she said.
The report found 77 children either witnessed or were in the house when a family member was killed.
