Te Aorerekura: Eliminating family and sexual violence

We are very excited about Te Aorerekura, which is the new, multi-agency government strategy to eliminating family and sexual violence in Aotearoa.

In a recent hui viewed by over 900 representatives of the family and sexual violence sector, Te Puna Aonui invited ministers from the 10 government agencies collaborating on Te Aorerekura, as well as agency representatives, front line workers, and tangata whenua, to discuss the kaupapa behind Te Aorerekura, and to announce the launch of the 25 year strategy.

In this hui, we heard ministers and agency leaders acknowledge that the system continues to fail our most vulnerable communities, including Māori, Pacifika, people with disabilities, and LGBTTQIA+. We heard Marama Davidson, minister for family and sexual violence, Andrew Kiblewhite, secretary for justice, and ministers from several other government agencies, including health, corrections, education, and social development, all state their commitment to effect systems level change, and close the gaps between government and community.

Strengths Based Wellbeing Model

Strengths-based wellbeing (Te Puna Aonui, 2022).

At the heart of the Te Aorerekura strategy is a commitment to strength-based wellbeing, that integrates the following key dimensions:  

• Strengthening – an integrated primary prevention approach with a focus on wellbeing

• Responding – holistic safe, accessible and integrated responses tailored to individuals, families, whānau and communities

• Healing – recovery, redress and restoration are needed.

This focus on wellbeing is significant, in that it represents a shift in perspective, away from viewing sexual and family violence as the cause of the problem, toward viewing these forms of violence as symptoms of wider social inequities and inter-generational harm. From this perspective, it is the healing of individuals, families, whānau, and communities, that is most needed in order to eliminate family and sexual violence.

In the hui, we heard that community level organisations, such as Kindred Family Services, will be empowered to design programs that promote healing in each of our unique local communities, and resourced to deliver these programs. The vision and strategy of Te Aorerekura aligns closely with our own, and we will be following the national strategy closely to see how we, alongside our local partners, can make the most of this opportunity for the benefit families and whānau locally.

If you are interested in learning more about Te Aorerekura, please visit https://tepunaaonui.govt.nz/

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