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How things stack up

If you are a victim of family violence – you’re not alone. Domestic violence is sadly all too common in Whanganui and across Aotearoa. The extent of the problem is startling and can be visualised through stats released by the Whanganui Flow team (2017).

  • 1 of 10 calls for help to Police in Whanganui are for family violence.
  • On average 68 minutes is spent at each family violence episode.
  • 69% of people under 20 recorded in an attempted suicide had previously been recorded as being present at a family violence episode, 53% at two or more.
  • 44% of serious injury is family violence related.
  • 87% of recidivist offenders aged under 20 first came to police notice by being present at a family violence episode.
  • Māori are identified as 19% of the population but are documented in 49.5% of family violence episodes recorded by the police.
  • Māori are 5 times more likely to be involved in family violence.
  • Police figures reveal that women are over eight times more likely to be victims than males

What is family violence?

 

Family violence (also known as domestic violence, family harm or intimate partner violence) is a pattern of abusive behaviour in a relationship that over time puts one person in a position of power over another and causes fear. It is often referred to as a pattern of pattern of power, coercion and control. The violence may be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, financial, or spiritual.

Family violence can take place in any home or community. It happens in rural and urban areas, within all age, religious and ethnic groups, and across the whole socio-economic landscape. There is always a wider narrative and context around those experiencing violence.

The family violence ecosystem below, maps the areas where this wider context of harm (current, ongoing, structural, systemic, historical) is accounted for.  Within this ecosystem- we too can see the places where those experiencing violence can find connection, strength, and resource. We believe that to END family violence in Whanganui we need a collective weaving of people and actions to build, heal, vision, and transform the legacy of family violence in our community.

As a community we can take small positive actions to DISRUPT violence & build safe, resilient, and healthy family/whānau relationships together. Often what stops this from happening, is that people don’t know how to help: what to say, what they can offer, and where to go to get support. This includes those who use violence and want to make changes for themselves and their whānau. Shame and stigma around family violence add extra stress to these attempts at finding or offering connection, support, and resource.

The goal of this website is to begin to educate, connect and strengthen our wider community on how to notice and respond to family violence, providing resources on how we can all start to take small actions and where we can get help for ourselves, our whanau and others experiencing violence in our community.

 

The family violence ecosystem:

Healthy and safe communities support people to have healthy and safe physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual relationships with themselves, their families and each other.

Healthy community eco-system of support: earth, water, air and fire.

We all deserve physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual safety, support and belonging

Earth: our physical safety, support and belonging – TO BUILD

Water: our emotional safety, support and belonging – TO HEAL

Air: our mental safety, support and belonging – TO VISION

Fire: our spiritual safety, support and belonging. – TO TRANSFORM