Jacinda Ardern

Youth Affairs Spokesperson

Carol Beaumont

Women’s Affairs Spokesperson

14 April 2011

MEDIA STATEMENT

Cuts to Girls’ Self Defence Project Irresponsible

A decision to scrap the funding for one of New Zealand’s most successful self defence programmes will put vulnerable girls and young women at risk, says Labour’s spokesperson for Youth Affairs, Jacinda Ardern and Labour’s spokesperson for Women’s Affairs Carol Beaumont.

“The Girls’ Self Defence Project, which has been running in schools across New Zealand for 15 years, has had a positive impact on the lives of more than 77,000 Kiwi girls,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“The project has consistently delivered positive results, with over 90% of girls participating saying that they felt stronger, more confident, and more educated in techniques to deal with unsafe situations.

“It is hugely important that women feel as though they can talk in a safe environment about issues of sexual violence. The project has enabled young women to not only use their knowledge of self-defence in precarious situations; but it has increased the rates of sexual abuse disclosure,” Carol Beaumont said.

“Rather than acknowledge that this project is an effective frontline programme, the Minister cut its entire $377,000 budget and reallocated funding to the Family Centred Services Fund.

“What is the point of taking away funding from a programme that is already delivering all of the objectives that the Minister has laid out, only to have them reapply for funding that they are not eligible for?” Jacinda Ardern said.

“When I questioned the Associate Minister for Social Development in the house today about the whether the programme was likely to receive funding from the Family Centred Services pool, she implied this project had lost its funding because it was not a frontline service.

“If giving hands on training to 77,000 young women to defend themselves against violence isn’t frontline, what is? This kind of response is appalling from a Minister who supposedly advocates for violence prevention strategies,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“With an estimated one in four New Zealand women having experienced sexual violence, it’s imperative that we ensure that programmes such as this are adequately funded and supported. We urge the Minister to reconsider,” Carol Beaumont said.

ENDS

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