Content area
Full Text
Exploring definitions of sexual violence in Aotearoa highlights that on the whole such definitions are located within dominant Pakeha frameworks that do not provide adequately for understanding the context of sexual violence for Maori. As such Maori working in the area of healing the trauma of sexual violence have been developing frameworks which are enabling of culturally defined understandings and traditional knowledge as a basis by which to understand sexual violence in Aotearoa. Informed by te reo and tikanga Maori (Maori language and culture) Maori healers, social workers and health providers have moved beyond western definitions and have highlighted the link between acts of sexual violence and the violence of colonial invasion. This article explores Maori perspectives of the origins and impacts of sexual violence for Maori and advocates for Kaupapa Maori and decolonising approaches to be more fully supported and engaged in dealing with these issues within our communities.
Maori Cultural Definitions of Sexual Violence
In Aotearoa (New Zealand), data and existing research indicates that Maori experiences of both family violence and sexual violence are disproportionate to our population (Lievore, Mayhew, & Mossman, 2007). What is clear is that this situation is one that has come to be a part of Maori reality through the impact of colonisation and historical trauma events (Pihama, et al. 2014). Evidence highlights that family violence and sexual violence were rare within Maori society prior to colonisation (Balzer, Haimona, Henare, & Matchitt, 1997). The report The Scale and Nature of Family Violence in New Zealand (Lievore et al., 2007) notes, "there is fair consensus that Maori are substantially over-represented as both victims and perpetrators of violence in families/whanau" (p. 55). Lievore et al. (2007) highlight that Maori women reported nearly double the rate of intimate partner violence than non-Maori.
Maori social service providers have indicated that for some time there has been an issue regarding the collection of accurate family and sexual violence data in Aotearoa. This is affirmed in the summary data sheets provided by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearing House (NZFVC, 2014). What is clear is that a range of databases need to be drawn upon in order to get any indication of the prevalence of sexual violence and its impact upon Maori however in...