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Source: ONE News -
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The National-led government has introduced a bill it says will better protect New Zealand's children.
The Sentencing Amendment Bill, introduced to parliament on Saturday, will help tackle violence against children and child neglect.
The bill requires the court to consider various aggravating factors when sentencing offenders where violence or neglect of a child under the age of 14 is involved.
These will include the victim's capacity to defend themselves, threats made by the offender that make the victim too scared to report the crime, serious long-term effects of the crime, and the magnitude of any breach of trust between the offender and victim.
Minister of Justice Simon Power says officials are already working to bring sentences for crimes against children into line with penalties for crimes against adults.
Power says the bill is the government's first step in providing better protection for children.
He says the existing law only requires judges to consider the age and vulnerability of the victim, and doesn't refer to children specifically, and that the bill is something his party campaigned for before the election.
The bill has passed its first reading unianimously. Labour say they support any bill aimed at the problem of child abuse in New Zealand, although they do not believe the bill will make any genuine changes to the existing law and the approach to sentencing such offenders.
