Domestic violence surge after rugby loss catches cops on hop

Thursday, 11 October 2007

By REBECCA GARDINER and NIC DALEY

• Howick and Pakuranga TimesHAD police anticipated an All Blacks loss on Sunday, more staff would have been rostered on to cope with an increase in domestic violence.That’s the startling admission from Counties Manukau East Police and they say it could be construed as a sad indictment on the national psyche.The All Blacks’ 20-18 defeat to France in the quarterfinal of the Rugby World Cup was confirmed just before 10am last Sunday.The early World Cup exit instigated a grieving process for the rugby-loving nation, as it watched the players, coaches and fans in Cardiff come to terms with the shock loss.Some local fans took their anger out on others in their homes, which police say can happen during the rugby season in general.Howick police senior sergeant Dave Glossop says Sunday morning’s early shift staff were stretched after the final whistle blew.“We hadn’t really planned for it because we didn’t expect to lose. We would have put more staff on had we expected to lose.”He says during the rugby season it’s not uncommon for such a loss to trigger violence in homes, eliciting a “kick the cat” mentality.Eastern Women’s Refuge (EWR) manager Rhonda Cox-Nissen says the centre receives an upsurge of calls to their crisis line during the rugby season.On Monday, she received 44 calls from women across Auckland and an additional eight women were placed in refuges.“In my personal experience the rugby season is always notorious,” Ms Cox-Nissen says. “Quite often [women] don’t relay that until they’re placed in a refuge. It’s not something they tell over the crisis line.”While an avid rugby fan, she believes the public needs to put the Rugby World Cup loss in perspective.“I’m bitterly disappointed too, but they had a bad day at the office. Let’s move on.”

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Domestic violence surge after rugby loss catches cops on hop