Peter Ellis
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The Green Party is
calling on the government to live up to the intent of its recently released
'Action Plan for NZ Women' and immediately assist a threatened The Auckland Sexual
Abuse HELP foundation handed redundancy notices to 20 staff last Monday -
International Women's Day. The notices will take effect within three weeks if
more government funding is not quickly provided. "HELP is not a
luxury or an add-on, its an essential crisis service," said Ms Bradford,
the Green Spokesperson on Social Services and the Community and Voluntary
Sector, "It is demoralising that such an important organisation is
struggling to stay open". HELP was set up in 1982
at the instigation of the Police Surgeon to provide appropriate first-contact
services to victims of sexual violence. The centre's co-ordinator said last
week it had been carrying a deficit for some years and was now no longer
financially viable without more substantive and coordinated government
assistance. Ms Bradford has been a supporter of HELP since it first opened. Ms Bradford is calling
on Ruth Dyson, the Minister of Women's Affairs and ACC and Associate Minister
of Health and Child Youth & Family, to provide HELP with a 'whole of
government' response. "Ms Dyson and her
government should immediately save HELP from closure and then sit down with
them to discuss a sustainable, simple and ongoing funding solution. "This government
has made a commitment to "However, the
situation with HELP is a good example of the government not working in a
timely way to ensure the sustainability of an essential community service.
HELP has worked hard to secure funding from many sources, but as a critical
community service it should not have its volunteers constantly diverted by
the search for money or the risk of closure. The HELP service last
year took 5000 crisis calls and helped 280 victims during police procedures,
almost 200 of who were aged 14-25. "As a society we
cannot afford to abandon the young victims of rape and abuse," said Ms
Bradford. |