NCJ Number
180770
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The Hamilton Abuse Intervention Project (HAIP) began in the north island of Aotearoa, New Zealand, in July 1991 to provide an integrated criminal justice and community response to domestic assault, based on the model in the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) in Duluth, Minn.
Abstract
The development of the HAIP began with the formation of a steering committee to examine the suitability of the Duluth model, the decision to develop an intervention project that was inclusive of Maori and would meet the needs of Maori as defined by Maori, the implementation of a two-part research project, and the establishment of a pilot project in the city of Hamilton. Interviews with 132 battered women who had some contact with the police or the HAIP revealed that more than 90 percent believed that they and their children were safer or living with less violence since the implementation of the pilot project. Findings also indicated that active intervention benefited both Maori and non-Maori battered women. Subsequent changes in the political climate and government funding cutbacks have not crippled the HAIP. However, the government has decided against making the HAIP experiment standard national practice. The government has left it to local groups to argue for a collaborative government and community-based effort to confront domestic violence; conventional funding is not available for independent monitoring of agencies and practitioner performance. However, the project has paved the road for collaborative government advocacy partnerships previously unknown in this area. Hamilton agencies continue to be strong advocates and work cooperatively with it due to the project's benefits to practitioners, abusers, and victims. Note and 2 references