The Department of Corrections will ensure offenders serving sentences in the community attend an event with The White Ribbon Riders in Papamoa this month.

Bay of Plenty Community Corrections supports White Ribbon each year, while the White Ribbon Ride is a week-long motorcycle tour which happens every November.

A group of riders visit towns throughout the country, attending events along the way with the intention of shedding light on the issue of family violence. This year, they'll be in Papamoa on Tuesday, November 24.

Research shows family violence can be a significant contributor to crime and Corrections Service Development deputy chief executive, Jo Field, says Corrections is addressing this by providing various programmes and initiatives to tackle family violence and reduce reoffending.

'Corrections has an obligation to help people make positive changes while on sentence,” says Jo. 'Our staff have a strong focus on helping offenders to address their violent offending.

'Around 40 per cent of prisoners and 25 per cent of offenders in the community are convicted of violent and sexual offences and a large proportion of this can be attributed to family violence.

'With this in mind, we have a number of programmes available for offenders to address their offending.”

Nationally, police attend around 100,000 family violence incidents each year.

As research estimates that less than 20 per cent of incidents are being reported, Corrections is well aware of the importance of providing interventions, giving offenders the skills to live without violence by teaching them to control their impulses and resolve conflicts without violence.

'To be successful we have to provide offenders with the interventions that will make a genuine difference to their lives,” says Jo.

'Every offender has a plan which acknowledges their offending history and suitable rehabilitation and training programmes.

'There are a range of programmes, both inside prison and in the community, designed to help offenders address their offending which are specific to their family violence needs.”