Domestic violence cases in the Western Bay of Plenty have doubled, according to Tauranga Moana Abuse Prevention Strategy family violence coordinator George Wynyard.



He has compared the organisation's domestic abuse figures from November to January with the same period in 2008/2009.
TMAPS dealt with 246 cases of domestic violence in December 2009 and 243 in January 2010.
'From our point of view, we are doing all we can – we can only do so much,” says George.
'A lot of it is around, ‘do they want help'. There are many, many that do not want change and many that can't.”
George says a big part of curbing domestic violence in the region is publicising the issue in the community.
'Part of our job is to get greater support from the community because it's all about community action and it can change this culture.”
TMAPS is working with other domestic abuse organisations to increase the expertise of professionals out in the field.