"This research concerns the development of a community led project in Otahuhu, Auckland that provides early intervention services to men who have been bound by Police Safety Orders (PSOs) in the Counties Manukau area. Police Safety Orders are issued as an interim safety measure when police have reasonable grounds to believe that there is a risk of family violence, or that an incident of family violence has occurred. Persons who are bound by Police Safety orders are not permitted to return to the home they share with protected persons (including children) or assault, threaten, intimidate or harass the protected person, or retain possession of firearms or any firearm license for the period of the order, which is up to 5 days and usually between 2 and 3 days. A recent evaluation of Police Safety Orders (Mossman, Kingi & Wehipeihana, 2014) identified the need for improvements in the provision of emergency housing for bound persons and quick referrals to community agencies for both the bound person and the person at risk. Gandhi Nivas was established in December 2014 to provide such emergency housing and rapid referrals."

The current study is the first research step in preparation for a collaborative formative and process evaluation of the services provided by Gandhi Nivas, Sahaayta and other organisations to which it refers clients. Evaluative research provides the opportunity for assessing best practice and ongoing learning for effective interventions that change family violence outcomes in communities.

This study provides a preliminary statistical description of the demographic characteristics and patterns of family violence and associated occurrences and offences recorded by New Zealand Police for clients referred for intake to Gandhi Nivas between December 2014 and December 2015." (From the executive summary). Access the website for more information about Gandhi Nivas. Record #5537