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Violence against Māori women in New Zealand
In February 2015 the New Zealand Ministry for Women released a report stating that Māori women are twice as likely as other New Zealand women to experience some form of violence. This is mostly due to the epidemic of whānau violence; a wider form of domestic violence including intimate partner violence (IPV), child abuse, elder abuse, parental abuse, sibling abuse, or any other family member abuse.

Victims and perpetrators
Whilst family violence occurs in all socio-economic groupings in New Zealand, Maori are over represented as both the victims and perpetrators.

The predominant concern for entities such as the New Zealand Families Commission is partner violence; with Māori women being at a three times higher risk of IPV than other women.

Another chief concern of government agencies such as the Ministry of Social Development is child abuse. Just over half of Child, Youth and Family clients whom have at least one substantiated abuse finding are Māori. Of this total number, a little over half are girls meaning that Māori girls are at a higher risk than any other children in New Zealand of experiencing abuse.

Other forms of whānau violence are not as largely represented in statistics, however they still make up for a moderate percentage of violence against Māori women. Between 2011 and 2012 Māori women were the most common gender and ethnic group to be admitted to hospital following assault with the perpetrator being identified as a family member. More than two thirds of the total number of assault hospitalisations were women and half of the total were Māori. Of these cases, about 19% of the perpetrators were identified as ‘other' family members, with spouse/domestic partners being the outstanding perpetrators.

Contributing factors
The major contributing factors for family violence in New Zealand is social and economic disadvantage regarding education, employment, health, housing and income. Hardship experienced by Māori is seen as a key factor which, when combined with other factors, significantly increases the risk of whānau violence.

Unemployment rates for young Māori women who are under 25 years of age are twice that of European women, with more than one in four Māori youth in the labour market being unemployed. For those who are employed, the median income is significantly lower than that of other ethnicities such as New Zealand European; with the median income for Māori over the age of 15 being $22,500.

Beneficiaries and those in sole parent households are also at a much higher risk to fall victim to family violence than other women. Currently, Māori make up for almost a third of the total proportion of beneficiaries in New Zealand. Further hardship in regards to housing is illustrated by Statistics New Zealand findings from 2006, estimating that almost a quarter of Māori live in crowded households.

The highest rates of IPV have been found to occur within young families, signalling that age is another contributing factor to violence. Statistics New Zealand show that the Māori population is largely young. This factor combined with social and economic hardship may be the reason for over representation of Māori in family violence statistics in New Zealand.

In a study of a group of Māori women who have experienced whānau violence, the women identified financial dependence on other family members, in particular partners/spouses, as a key contributing factor for violence. They identified the link beginning at education through to employment opportunities and adequate income with freedom of choice, independence, safety and equal power and control.

Influence of drugs and alcohol
Stemming from social and economic factors contributing to violence against Māori women is the use of drugs and alcohol by Māori. Drug and alcohol use is influenced by easy accessibility in low-income neighbourhoods due to a high number of alcohol outlets, community norms of heavy binge drinking and use of illegal drugs and use as a coping mechanism for poverty, poor health and racism.

Whilst rates of alcohol-related assault vary widely in different populations of women, five percent of all women in New Zealand have reported physical assault due to someone else’s drinking. This rate is significantly higher for young women, women living in deprived areas, and Māori women.

In a 2009 survey by the Ministry of Health, Māori women were found to be almost four times more likely than non-Māori women to have been assaulted in the past year by someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, significantly more Māori victims of violent incidents committed by a partner or other well-known person said the offender was affected by drugs (45%) or alcohol (59%), as opposed to European victims (22% and 35% respectively).

Learned behaviour theory
The Mauri Ora framework was created by the Second Māori Taskforce on whānau violence to further the current understanding of whānau violence. The framework acknowledged that whānau violence is a learned and practiced behaviour that has become normalised and entrenched through several generations.

This concern, that violence and abuse is a learned behaviour, is supported by findings that children who are raised within violent family environments do not understand the negative consequences of the use of violence and are more likely to adopt violent behaviour within their own families as they mature. Children who witness violence between their parents are also at a much greater risk of later adjustment difficulties such as antisocial behaviours.

For this reason, the Second Māori Taskforce on whānau violence labelled whanau violence as an epidemic, acknowledging that the objective of zero tolerance of whānau violence would take time to become unlearned.

Use of community organisations by Māori women and children
The Ministry of Health has suggested that Māori women and children often use health and community services later than others, meaning that when they do their injuries and issues are more serious.

Community organisations such as the New Zealand Women's Refuge have attempted to make their services more accessible to Māori women and children experiencing whānau violence by providing culturally appropriate services. Of the 45 local refuges around New Zealand, 14 ‘whares’ (houses) have been specifically designed by Māori for wahine (Māori women) and their tamariki (children) and whānau. The whares’ aim to eliminate violence whilst promoting Māori values such as the wellbeing of whānau, promoting mana (strength), transformation and creating support within the wider community.

Figures from 2011 and 2012 support the introduction of these specialised refuges for Māori women as half of the total number of women who used Women's Refuge services were identified as Māori.

Current prevention techniques
The Ministry for Women acknowledge that when dealing with violence there are three stages of prevention, namely, primary (before violence occurs, with a focus on large groups) and secondary and tertiary (after violence occurs, with a targeted focus on victims and offenders). The Ministry has noted that previously most primary prevention approaches for violence against women specifically targeted women but has recently began to include men and boys. The aim of this is to educate men and boys, as partners, to promote respectful, non-violent relationships in which each partner feels safe and supported. The shift towards engaging boys and men in the prevention of violence against women recognizes that men are the primary perpetrators of violence against women. It also encourages male socialisation and encourages non-violent men to serve as positive role models and to act as active bystanders to prevent and intervene in situations involving violence towards women.

The New Zealand Department of Corrections has recognised that whānau violence perpetrators have a range of individual problems such as anger, hostility and personality disorders from having witnessed or suffered abuse as children. Current prevention techniques include providing education, information and support services to implement changes in attitude and behaviour for not only the victims and perpetrators of whānau violence but also for the whānau and wider community. The focus on the wider community is of particular importance as it focuses on the large scale of whānau violence and aims to shift attitudes and norms within the Māori culture.

Another culturally sensitive prevention technique is the Mauri Ora framework which incorporates Maori principles and values such as whakapapa (genealogy), tikanga (general behaviour guidelines for daily life and interaction within the Māori culture), wairua (spirit), tapu (forbidden/sacred values), mauri (the essence of emotions), and mana (power). These cultural constructs help to give priority to Māori culture, knowledge and identity when addressing the issue of whānau violence. They also help non-Māori to understand the different approach required on the path to eliminating whānau violence. The framework aims to apply the principles in practice when facing contemporary issues of today such as colonisation. This is a fairly new approach focussing on the preservation of Māori values within the environmental and contextual influences of modern New Zealand.