Men from all over New Zealand are invited to join prominent violence-prevention voices in a show of solidarity and call for national change. This will culminate in a group pledge at Parliament grounds on 06 August 2020 from 10am-12noon.

The pledge has been initiated by SafeMan SafeFamily founder Vic Tamati MNZM, himself a past victim and perpetrator of family violence who became an It's Not Ok Champion, working to prevent violence. Joining Mr Tamati in leading the pledge are Ken Clearwater ONZM, National Advocate at Male Survivors Aotearoa, and Tim Marshall of Tauawhi Men's Centre, Gisborne.

The pledge aims to challenge men nationwide to stand as one against family violence.

New Zealand has, for years, had the worst family violence statistics in the OECD, with one in three women reporting they have experienced it. Children who grow up affected by family violence are also significantly at risk of adverse effects such as impaired health and education prospects, reduced job opportunities, and increased likelihood of addiction and incarceration.

Clearwater says, "Parliament have a target to make NZ predator-free by 2050, but this sort of top-level goal is missing when it comes to human predators. We want Parliament to have a strategic plan and a cross-party goal, similar to the Predator-Free 2050 target. We call on all political parties to work together on a national strategy to hold perpetrators to account and ensure they get the help they need to change."

Tamati adds, "This is a call to all New Zealanders, and especially men, to pledge to help end family and whanau violence in all its forms: physical, psychological and sexual."

Mr Tamati says, "Men are often labelled only as offenders and perpetrators, which stops people fronting up and making a change. We want to make these men visible and enable them to break the cycle of violence, through services like ours or with the help of their friends and whanau."

"My vision is for Aotearoa to be human predator-free. But widespread change will not happen if we keep going the way we are. We need the whole team of five million to work together on this."

Tamati, Clearwater and Marshall challenge all men and women to stand with them to make the pledge at Parliament. However, those who are unable to be there on the day can also make a pledge on the SafeMan SafeFamily website, www.safemansafefamily.org.nz/pledgetoendfamilyviolence

The groups have been travelling from their respective bases down to Wellington, with the ANZAC Mounts carrying the Male Survivor group completing an epic nine-day trek from Christchurch that began last Monday. The North Island contingent are making their way down from Auckland and Gisborne respectively, and joining with others on the way.

Anyone interest in attending is invited to contact Tim Marshall 0275586362 or Togia Lanafale 0277673007. For further comment: Vic Tamati, SafeMan SafeFamily founder 0277673001 Ken Clearwater, Male Survivors Aotearoa 027 353 3854 Tim Marshall, Tauawhi Men's Centre 027 558 6362

BACKGROUNDER

SafeMan SafeFamily

SafeMan SafeFamily was founded in 2009 by ex-victim and ex-perpetrator of violence, Vic Tamati. After living the painful journey from childhood victim to adult perpetrator in vivid technicolour - delinquency, drugs, gang membership, prison - Vic finally broke free of his life of violence and has been on a journey of recovery ever since. Over this time, he developed a stopping violence programme that genuinely engages those who are caught up in lifestyle violence - a peer-led solution that recognises that perpetrators of violence have often previously been childhood victims.
The SafeMan SafeFamily team also work across Manukau to increase awareness of support services and educate people about family violence prevention. The organisation also has facilitators in Northland and Gisborne. There are SafeMan mentors (ex-perpetrators who are now deemed Safe by their families) throughout New Zealand. Please see the third page of this release for a more extensive bio of Vic Tamati and SMSF.

Male Survivors Aotearoa

Male Survivors Aotearoa is a national network of support services for male survivors of sexual abuse. They provide a confidential helpline, peer support, prison inmate and probation support, and survivor advocacy and referral services through several regional service centres.

Representatives from Male Survivors are riding horseback to Parliament (over nine days) with the support of the ANZAC Mounts.

Tauawhi Men's Centre

The Tauawhi Men's Centre in Gisborne provides a "one stop shop" specifically for men, who are often reluctant to ask for help. The vision for the centre is to provide an obvious place for men to access help and contribute to positive change for them and their whanau.
The centre's trained, experienced staff members offer free and confidential services. They work to acknowledge and protect mana tangata. This means that they will respect rights of choice, self-determination and tino rangatiratanga.
Their key services are counselling and social work, and they run several non-violence, parenting and youth programmes, including SafeMan SafeFamily programmes.

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