The Bay of Plenty has the dark and unenviable distinction of having all but the worst incidence of reported domestic violence in the country,

It sits uncomfortably right up there behind South Auckland – an area that's socio-economically disadvantaged, rough and tough.

Labour Police and Corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

'It's certainly a big issue” says MP Kelvin Davis, Labour's spokesman for Police and Corrections who was in town this week.

He'd just emerged from discussions with Western Bay of Plenty Police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton, who confirmed to him that domestic violence leads the region's statistics in terms of violent crime.

'It's a real blight” says the MP.

To illustrate his point the Labour Party put up parliamentary library provided statistics for all of the Bay of Plenty, and it makes disturbing reading.

There were 2,880 cases of family violence in the region last year, including 772 crimes against women and 361 against children. They expect the figures to rise further this year.

The statistics are second only in severity to Counties Manukau, which takes in South Auckland. There were 4,219 cases of family violence there, including 908 against women and 654 against children.

'So we have a real problem, but it's a problem everywhere” says Kelvin.

'That's right,” agrees Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.

'Sadly, as a former crown prosecutor who dealt with a lot of domestic violence cases throughout the Bay of Plenty, this doesn't surprise me.”

It may be epidemical but why is Tauranga, a genteel seaside city with an elderly demographic, overly-represented in one aspect of violent crime?

'I wish I had an answer” says Kelvin. 'But one thing I have realised is that sexual violence and family violence are non socio-economic, are not ethnic peculiar and are right across the whole spectrum of New Zealand.”

But is Tauranga aware that domestic violence is so prevalent in the region?

Kelvin says some sectors of society can hide it better. 'They have more money and better lawyers to defend and hide. They don't make it go away but they can hide it.”

He compares it to his own constituency of Te Tai Tokerau. 'When my people lose it, they lose it big time and it's out there and it's seen.”

Again, Simon Bridges doesn't disagree.

'Sadly it's the insidious, persistent and pernicious nature of domestic violence which almost by definition happens indoors and out of sight.”

But because they are Bay of Plenty-wide statistics, Simon says it's difficult to draw conclusions about exactly who is doing this and where.

Domestic violence has become a cause celebre for the Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin. He walked the entire length of his electorate to draw attention to the problem.

He's also promoting his own Non-fatal Strangulation members bill, an amendment to the Crimes Act, in the ballot.

Non-fatal strangulation, particularly by an intimate partner, is a risk indicator for major assault, or attempted or completed homicide, and is an important factor in assessing domestic abuse.

'It's not going to stop someone doing the crime. It just punishes them once they have done it.”

But it's hard to create a law that's going to prevent abuse.

'When people are in the zone and just going nuts, they are not thinking logically or rationally, they don't care about what the law says.”

Kelvin says you can't legislate to stop them.

The MP has been speaking long and hard about the taboo subject of sexual and domestic violence and believes that's the number one way of addressing it.

'If people are talking about it then more people will talk about it and it becomes even easier to talk about.”

He says silence is the great enabler – it creates a climate for perpetrators to operate without fear of detection.

'For too long abuse and violence has been the family secret. But that has to change.”

Simon says the government is 'incredibly focussed” on the problem and Minister of Justice Amy Adams has made it her number one priority.

'But it's good to see players from across the political spectrum uniting with us on this issue,” says Simon.