Preventing and ending sexual violence should have been a major election issue – it is not

NOTICE

The prevention and elimination of sexual violence should have been an important election issue. Right now, this is a leadership opportunity missed by all political factions.

Surprisingly, given the minimum $6 billion annual cost to Aotearoa, not to mention the humanitarian trauma, none of the major political parties have prioritized this, except for the ardent Marama Davidson.

She broke new ground by becoming the first minister responsible for the Prevention of domestic and sexual violence in 2020, and that was progress.

So did Te Aorerekura, the 25-year strategy to tackle family violence and sexual violence.

We are miles away from where we can talk about this publicly. It doesn’t matter what political party you belong to: we must all agree that sexual violence is a problem that needs to be addressed.

This is the key to restoring the health and well-being of our nation.

My observations as a member of the national organization TOAH-NNEST (Te Ohaakii a Hine – National Network to End Sexual Violence Together) on the last two government mandates helping to prevent sexual violence on the ground are accompanied by a dose of pragmatism and practicality.

In 2015, we walked the entire length of Te Tai Tōkerau, from Tāmaki to Cape Reinga, to raise awareness of the support needed to manage the harmful effects of sexual violence.

The following year we committed to walking 40km around Kaitāia daily for a week as part of the Seven7 Challenge.

At the time, the central message from Joy Te Wiata and I, from Korowai Tumanako, was that we can prevent sexual violence and that as a whole community we can do it. My position remains the same.

One of the most impressive aspects of the march at the time was that all political parties joined in – everyone from across the political spectrum participated.

We need this multi-party collectivism for the good of our nation in action, we all agree that sexual violence is a real scourge in our society.

Yes, there has been an acceleration of support in the House around the implementation of the Sexual Violence Legislation Act 2021, which is pleasing.

The new law is a critical part of the work carefully done, particularly to allow judges to intervene when inappropriate questions are asked of victims/survivors who testify.

For example, when a lawyer asks a 6-year-old child: “If you don’t like what happened to you, why did you go back to school?”

There have also been partnerships developed with Māori and Kaupapa Māori, which has led to a greater understanding that Māori have an answer and a healthy response to meet the needs of whānau who have been violated.

Yes, it is still early, especially when this scourge has existed for hundreds of years. But it doesn’t have to take 100 years to fix. This is about ensuring we get the resources we need to do that.

Māori service providers in the sexual violence sector have a quite different approach to how we work with whānau in this space: hohoa rongo to restore tapu, mana and reconciliation is essential in cases of sexual violence when there has been a transgression.

You can’t move through the community without meeting someone who hasn’t been affected by sexual violence. When you look at the tip of the iceberg statistics; one Wahine in four and double for the Maoris, one Tane in six are affected.

When you start looking at the gargantuan numbers, you can say that everyone in New Zealand is affected by this situation. This means we need increased access to support services, information and education. It’s a must.

What I witness professionally is that we face a lot more sexual addiction, which leads to harming ourselves and others.

So this is what clinicians are faced with right now. The government must help us solve this problem, because we cannot do it alone.

As much as we would like to not rely on government to do this, it will take a village, as we certainly also need to seek support within our own communities and our own resources to meet the needs of these people.

Politicians may find it difficult to talk about sexual violence because it is a difficult subject to discuss, even for families. Many don’t know how to talk about it, but the fact is that as a country we need to find healthy ways to talk about it.

You don’t have to go very far to see the effects of sexual violence, or the psychological effects, the emotional effects on violence within the community.

The current insidious effects and the required solution are quite enormous, which could have been a conscience call for political prioritization.

Russell Smith is Co-Director/Senior Clinician, Korowai Tumanako and a member of Ngā Kaitiaki Mauri Taumata TOAH-NNEST — a national organization focused on sexual violence prevention.