In the wake of White Ribbon Day (November 25), Te Hiku whānau are being urged to continue to take courage and be vigilant in shining a light on whānau harm.

Te Rarawa Chairman and Whiria Te Muka Iwi Leader Haami Piripi says whānau harm acts like a shadow in people’s lives and must be brought from Te Pō to Te Ao Marama to enable people to heal.

This year’s White Ribbon campaign theme is ‘Shine a Light on Violence Prevention’, which is part of what Whiria Te Muka aims to achieve, while striving for Mana Tangata for the people of Te Hiku.

A partnership initiative between Te Hiku Iwi and the NZ Police, Whiria Te Muka works with families that have experienced whānau harm largely reported via 111.

For the 12 months from November 1 2020 to October 31 2021, Whiria Te Muka data shows there were 2529 people involved in 1509 incidents that were reported via 111. Of those people, 1269 identified as male and 1260 as female.

However, these figures are only representative of a portion of all whānau harm incidents that come through 111 to Te Hiku Police. Likewise, only a quarter of all whānau harm incidents are officially reported via 111, the vast majority remaining in the dark.

Haami says the traditional Māori concepts of pono (truth and sincerity), tika (correctness) and aroha (love and empathy) are foundational in supporting whānau experiencing family violence to reach out for help.

“In order for anything to be resolved, you must first be pono. Fully transparent, everything’s out on the table. And that tells you that what you’re doing is tika. And when you’ve got the correctness, you have everything in this picture. This is the right point to apply pressure for change. You are in a position to express aroha and understand exactly the parameters of that generosity,” he says.

He says that bringing whānau harm out into the open is challenging for whānau because of fear of the consequences of police and judicial systems attached to it. He adds one mana-enhancing solution might be to focus on addressing the hurt that has been inflicted by the person’s behaviour, and not crack down on the individual as such in a punitive manner.

“Family violence is never OK. But it’s OK to talk freely about it. I don’t think you want to directly muru (or absolve) the behaviour of individuals these days. Once you do that, it becomes a punishment.

You want to muru the mamae (or harm) in order to achieve the outcome. You can say ‘we’re not trying to bust you. We’re not trying to even expose you so much. We’re just trying to get our finger on the right issue to allow you the ability to remove the shadow and get it right. This will allow us the ability to show you aroha in one form or another’,” he says.

Whiria Te Muka is unique in that it marries the risk and safety expertise of NZ Police with the mātauranga Māori of Te Hiku Iwi in its approach. The iniative influences the spectrum from crises to intervention to Mana Tangata, designing and influencing system change.

And so far, there have been some positive outcomes for families to move out of experiencing regular whānau harm. Whiria Te Muka Iwi Co-Director Callie Corrigan says although reported whānau harm has increased since the initiative began in 2017, 896 whānau have moved from high to low risk.

“We have seen more whānau building confidence to ring 111 before the harm escalates. We expect numbers of whānau harm will continue to rise first as our communities build more trust in NZ Police and the 111 system and also bring harm mai i Te Pō ki Te Ao Marama,” she says.

More information on the White Ribbon campaign and what tools you can use to shine a light on family violence can be found at www.whiteribbon.org.nz or www.facebook.com/whiteribbonnz.

If you or someone you know is experiencing whānau harm, please contact any of the crisis contact lines below:

Police: If it is an emergency, phone 111

Kaitāia Women’s Refuge Crisis Line: 09 408 2946 or 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE)

Shine National Helpline: 0508 744 633

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