About the symposium

This event was held on 3 September 2024 at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau in Auckland. The New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse and the Ministry of Social Development | Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora (MSD) co-hosted a one-day symposium to bring together specialists, researchers and policymakers working to address the abuse of older people. The symposium featured speaker panels and workshop discussions that explored the critical gaps in our understanding of and response to abuse of older people in Aotearoa.

The speaker panels and workshops addressed 4 themes:

• Understanding and measuring abuse of older people
• Inequities and intersectional identities
• Reflections from practice on barriers and challenges
• Aspirations for wellbeing and hauora.

Speakers shared insights from their work. These short presentations provided a starting point to spark conversation, broaden thinking and create opportunities for collaboration.Below you'll find videos and slides from the speakers.

Speaker panels

Panel 1 – Understanding and measuring abuse of older people

Speakers from panel 1 included Gail Pacheco from Auckland University of Technology, Tia Dawes from Wai Rangahau and the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau and Pauline Gulliver from National Mortality Review. Watch the Panel 1 video or see Panel 1 slides.

Panel 2 - Inequities and intersectional identities

Speakers from panel 2 included Huhana Hickey from Pukenga Consultancy, Debbie Hager from VisAble, Hong-Jae Park from Western Sydney University and Sandra Dickson from Hohou te Rongo Kahukura. Watch the Panel 2 video or see the Panel 2 slides.

Panel 3 - Reflections from practice on barriers and challenges

Speakers from panel 3 included Danielle Oaks from Te Ahi Kaa, Nilima Venkat from Seva Charitable Trust and Hanny Naus from Age Concern New Zealand. Watch the Panel 3 video or see the Panel 3 slides.

Panel 4 - Aspirations for wellbeing and hauora

Speakers from panel 4 included Te Piere Warahi from the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau, Malia Hamani from Toa Pacific Inc, and Diane Turner from Office for Seniors, Ministry of Social Development | Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora. Watch the Panel 4 video see the Panel 4 slides.

Related resources

List of related research reports and articles from symposium attendees

Summary notes from the symposium small group discussion notes (compiled by NZFVC)

Reports from projects commissed by MSD focused on the prevention of abuse of older people include Abuse of older people in Aotearoa New Zealand - An examination of potential data sources (2024); Review of screening and assessment tools for abuse of older people (2024); Gathering insights from the Elder Abuse Prevention fund (2024). Find more information about MSD's 3-year work programmed focused on prevention of abuse of older people.

The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) video on Exploring Structural Ageism in Aotearoa (2024)

This webinar was held on 22 May 2024. Watch the recording of the webinar and read Violence within Whānau and Mahi Tūkino — A Litany of Sound Revisited. For an overview of the Litany of Sound Revisited see our news story New report compiles decades of contemporary mātauranga on violence.

About the webinar

Violence within Whānau and Mahi Tūkino — A Litany of Sound Revisited is an in-depth literature review that brings together contemporary mātauranga from Māori researchers in one book. This webinar is a wayfinder, to continue the kōrero from this report with speakers who reflected on research and real-life expertise. The speakers include the author of the book, Denise Wilson, along with Poata Watene, Ngarongo Eaton and Te Whetu Mairangi (Whetu Horo) Balzer-Horo.

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.

I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.

The speakers shared kōrero based on:

1. past evidence and learnings
2. present insights and issues alongside
3. future dreams and aspirations from the next generation.

Their kōrero blends research with real life expertise and solutions from the flaxroots, from Māori kaimahi perspectives working in family violence and sexual violence in the community.

This event was held on 11 March 2024 at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau in Auckland. Watch the recording from the event or view the slides.

About the event

In this panel, researchers and academics from Aotearoa and Australia unpack coercive control and systemic entrapment and explore how individuals, organisations and systems can better support victim-survivors. The panellists spoke about:

• Understanding the ways that victims experience coercive control and systemic entrapment including how this may be different for tangata whenua
• Learning from the Australian experience to develop a systems response to coercive control
• Understanding and challenging systemic entrapment – including findings and stories from wāhine Māori about entrapment, and exploring how to interrupt systemic entrapment and support women.

Background information

Coercive control is recognised as a harmful dynamic that characterises most interpersonal violence. It can have severe health and wellbeing consequences and it can be fatal. Yet it is still not widely understood.  Coercive control refers to a cumulative pattern of abuse and violence, through which a person intimidates and threatens their partner or ex-partner in ways that make them afraid and controls their choices and behaviour. It usually includes physical violence, but not always. Through coercive control, an abusive partner can trap their partner within the relationship and isolate them from support networks. Victims can be further socially entrapped by unhelpful responses from other people, organisations and society that ignore or minimise the abuse, blame the victim, or otherwise add to the impact of the abuse. Some of the individual acts of coercive control can be subtle and difficult to recognise as abuse when they are not looked at in the context of the wider pattern of abusive and violent behaviour over time. To effectively support victim-survivors, it is essential that coercive control and systemic entrapment are more widely understood. Related resources

E Tū Wāhine, E Tū Whānau: Wāhine Māori keeping safe in unsafe relationships (2019) by Denise Wilson, Alayne Mikahere-Hall, Juanita Sherwood, Karina Cootes and Debra Jackson. Also see our related news story, Research explores Māori women's realities; finds agencies often contribute to entrapment.

Carceral feminism and coercive control: when Indigenous women aren’t seen as ideal victims, witnesses or women (2021) by Chelsea Watego, Alissa Macoun, David Singh and Elizabeth Strakosch

Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: Why Coercive Control Requires a Social and Systemic Entrapment Framework (2023) by Julia Tolmie, Rachel Smith and Denise Wilson

CALD Communities as “Collateral Damage” in the Criminalization of Coercive Control: An Argument for Prioritizing Civil System Reform Over Further Criminalization in Victoria (2023) by Balawyn Jones and Akuch Kuol Anyieth.

Australian National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence (2023)

Social entrapment : a realistic understanding of the criminal offending of primary victims of intimate partner violence (2018) by Julia Tolmie, Rachel Smith, Jacqueline Short, Denise Wilson and Julie Sach

Coercive Control as the Context for Intimate Partner Violence: The Challenge for the Legal System (2020) by Jane Wangmann

Law Reform Processes and Criminalising Coercive Control (2022) by Jane Wangmann

Victim-survivors’ views on and expectations for the criminalisation of coercive control in Australia: Findings from a national survey (2023) by Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Ellen Reeves, Silke Meyer and Sandra Walklate at the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre

This webinar was held on 10 July 2023. The full recording of the webinar was available for a limited time.

While the full webinar recording is no longer available, you can watch our intro and overview along with comments and slides from speaker Anjum Rahman.

About the webinar

In June 2023 Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) proposed changes to the way media and online platforms are regulated in New Zealand to keep people safe online. The proposal is called the Safer Online Services and Media Platforms. DIA is inviting public feedback on these proposed reforms.

This webinar explored the proposed reforms and why they are important for people working in family violence and sexual violence. For more information about the consultation see our news story Consultation on regulating online services and media platforms.

Resources

InternetNZ has created guides about key factors of the Safer Online Services and Media Platforms consultation. This includes information about how the consultation considers Te Tiriti o Waitangi and issues for Māori.

The presentation slides from Anjum Rahman link to several reports.

Jo Robertson highlighted findings from these two reports:

• NZ youth and porn: research findings of a survey on how and why young New Zealanders view online pornography (2018) published by the Classification Office
• Teens and Pornography (2023) published by US-based Common Sense Media

Kate Hannah highlighted the just launched report Technology-facilitated gender-based violence: preliminary landscape analysis (2023) commissioned by the Global Partnership for Action on Online Gender Based Abuse and brief from UN Women Understanding and measuring technology-facilitated violence against women for better prevention and response (2023).For related reports see the following:

• the report An Internet that Benefits (2023) commissioned by InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa from Toi Āria: Design for Public Good and Making Everything Achievable
• reports and articles from The Disinformation Project
• the Kantar Public Unite against the COVID-19 infodemic Research report (2022) proactively released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• The Edge of the Infodemic (2021) by the Classification Office
• The report of the United Nations Secretary-General Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (2022) which highlights growing online violence against women and girls
• the UN Women brief The state of evidence and data collection on technology-facilitated violence against women (2023)
• the UN policy paper Countering and Addressing Online Hate Speech: A Guide for Policy Makers and Practitioners (2023) and the related UN media release
• the UN Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 8 Information Integrity on Digital  Platforms (2023) and the related UN media release
• The Incelosphere: Exposing pathways into incel communities and the harms they pose to women and children (2022) published by the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Speakers

Anjum Rahman is the founder and Project Co-Lead of Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono whose mission is to build a social movement across the country of people, organisations and communities committed to working together to build a socially inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand. Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono is part of the Coalition for Better Digital Policy working to improve New Zealand’s voluntary Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms. Anjum was a founding member of the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand and a founding member and trustee of Shama, Ethnic Women’s Trust. She has worked in the area of sexual violence prevention both as a volunteer and as part of Government working groups. She is also a member of international committees dealing with violent extremist content online, being the co-chair of the Christchurch Call Advisory Network and a member of the Independent Advisory Committee of the Global Internet Forum for Countering Terrorism. She is also a council member of Internet New Zealand.

Kate Hannah is the director of The Disinformation Project, and a PhD candidate in the Centre for Science and Society at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Her research interests include gender, ‘race’, eugenics, colonisation and white supremacism in historic and contemporary science and technology cultures and subcultures. Hannah is one of two New Zealand representatives on the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence’s (GPAI) Responsible AI Working Group and is leading a research project developing principles for community consultation on classification and mitigation of online harm for GPAI.

Jo Robertson is the research and training lead for The Light Project, which provides information and resources for youth, families and professionals to navigate the new porn landscape. Jo has a Master’s of Science in Medicine specialising in Sex Therapy, with a focus on international consumption rates and impacts of porn on adolescents. She has had 15 year’s experience working in sexual health and trauma, through education and counselling. Jo has a private therapeutic practice specialising in problematic sexual behaviours, sexual dysfunction and relationship breakdown. She has recently co-founded the campaign Makes Sense, which is lobbying for the removal of illegal sexual content online, and she has a TEDx talk titled ‘Why we need to talk about porn’.

Panel host: Charlotte Moore (Rangitāne o Wairau) is Kaiwhakahaere at the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse.

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This event was held on 8 March 2023 at Parliament in Wellington. Watch the recording from the event.

The event was hosted by the Hon Marama Davidson, Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence, in association with the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse and the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation.

About the event

The book launch shared research findings from the book by Elisabeth McDonald Prosecuting Intimate Partner Rape: The Impact of Misconceptions on Complainant Experience and Trial Process (Canterbury University Press, 2023). This is the final in a series of three books examining how sexual violence is addressed in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Courts. Elisabeth conducted in-depth analysis of case materials for over 70 adult rape trials from a 10-year period (2010-2020), including both jury and judge-alone trials. Drawing on this research, she will reflect on some of the reforms to law and procedure that may help reduce the negative impacts of participation on victim/survivors as complainants. The book was launched online (Open Access) on the night. It considers the particular and significant in-court challenges for those who have reported experiencing multiple forms of family and sexual violence.

The Hon Marama Davidson Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence, spoke at the event responding to the issues raised by the research and about the national strategy to eliminate sexual violence and family violence, Te Aorerekura.

The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation generously funded the research and its publication. The wider research team supporting this work included Paulette Benton-Greig, Sandra Dickson and Rachel Souness.  

Presenter

Elisabeth McDonald is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Canterbury. She has taught and published in the areas of sexual and family violence, law and sexuality, criminal law and the law of evidence for over 30 years, as an academic and as the Policy Manager for the evidence law reference at the New Zealand Law Commission. Elisabeth is the author of a number of evidence law textbooks and online legal resources, including Rape Myths as Barriers to Fair Trial Process (Canterbury University Press, 2020) (co-winner of the JF Northey Memorial book prize) and In the Absence of a Jury (Canterbury University Press, 2022), and is also co-editor and co-author of From “Real Rape” to Real Justice (VUP, 2011) and Feminist Judgments Aotearoa: Te Rino, the Two-Stranded Rope (Hart, 2017). In 2018 she became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contribution to law and education. In late 2022 Elisabeth took up a role as Deputy Director Curriculum Design & Delivery at Te Kura Kaiwhakawā | Institute of Judicial Studies.

Related resources

‍Prosecuting Intimate Partner Rape: The Impact of Misconceptions on Complainant Experience and Trial Process (2023) by Elisabeth McDonald; Also see the University of Canterbury media release New research aims to improve intimate partner rape prosecutions

Controlling evidence of sexual experience with the defendant (2022) by Elisabeth McDonald in the The New Zealand law journal: 305–309

Rape Myths as Barriers to Fair Trial Process (2020) by Elisabeth McDonald

In the Absence of a Jury (2022) by Elisabeth McDonald

Communicating absence of consent is not enough : the results of an examination of contemporary rape trials (2020) by Elisabeth McDonald

Feminist Judgments Aotearoa: Te Rino, the Two-Stranded Rope (2017) co-edited by Elisabeth McDonald, Rhonda Powell, Mamari Stephens, Rosemary Hunter

From "real rape" to real justice: prosecuting rape in New Zealand (2011) by Elisabeth McDonald and Yvette Tinsley

This webinar was held on 28 February 2023. Watch the recording, see the presentation slides or read the transcript from the webinar.

About the webinar

In this webinar, legal researcher Sarah Croskery-Hewitt shares the findings of her report, Fighting or Facilitating Family Violence? Immigration Policy and Family Violence in New Zealand, published in February 2023. Sarah’s report identifies gaps in immigration policy in relation to family violence and provides an analysis of all Immigration & Protection Tribunal decisions concerning the ‘Victims of Family Violence’ visa category since 2010.

To assess how well immigration protections are functioning for migrant victims of family violence, it is vital to understand how the Immigration & Protection Tribunal is applying the ‘Victims of Family Violence’ visa policy. The Tribunal is typically the only appeal avenue for victims of family violence whose residence application has been declined and the Tribunal’s decisions guide Immigration New Zealand’s application of the visa policy. Unlike Immigration New Zealand, the Tribunal is also able to consider exceptions to the ‘Victims of Family Violence’ residence visa policy for victims who may not fit its restrictive criteria.

Sarah’s report provides an in-depth analysis of how the ‘Victims of Family Violence’ policy is being applied in practice, as well as commenting on the broader responsiveness of the immigration system to family violence. Based on her findings, she argues that policy reform and education across the immigration system is essential to ensure effective and accessible protections for migrant victims of family violence.

Sarah completed this research through a Borrin Foundation Community Law Fellowship. The programme enables lawyers working at Community Law Centres to pursue an inquiry or pioneer solutions to legal issues.

Background

Research and insight from victim-survivors and advocates has shown that immigration policies and practices can create barriers for migrant victims of family violence when accessing help. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has also raised concerns about the impacts of immigration settings on migrant victims of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand. For an overview of the current policy and what policy and practice changes are needed, see our previous webinar, Rights and needs of migrant victim-survivors of family violence within immigration policies and practices and news story.

Resources

Fighting or Facilitating Family Violence? Immigration Policy and Family Violence in New Zealand (2023) by Sarah Croskery-Hewitt; also see the Community Law Centres Aotearoa media release Family Violence Visa Needs Urgent Review On International Women’s Day Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Recent Migrant Victims of Family Violence Project 2019: final report (2020) by Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment; also see our related news story New report identifies barriers for migrant victims of family violence in immigration policies

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan (2022)

Inquiry into migrant exploitation, Report of the Education and Workforce Committee (2022)

Proposed Member's Bill Protecting Migrant Victims of Family Violence Bill, introduced by Jan Logie

Living at the cutting edge: women's experiences of protection orders: Volume 1 the women's stories and Volume 2 : what's to be done? A critical analysis of statutory and practice approaches to domestic violence (2007)

This webinar was held on 28 November 2022. Watch the recording or read the transcript from the webinar.

Research and insight from victim-survivors and advocates has shown that immigration policies and practices can create barriers for migrant victims of family violence when accessing help. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) has also raised concerns about the risks for migrant women who have children and are victims of family violence. This webinar looked at:

• The current situation for migrant victim-survivors of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand in relation to immigration policies
• Policies from other countries and Aotearoa New Zealand’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• What policy, practice and support changes are needed.

See our previous news story for more background.

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Speakers:

Vasudha Gautam is the Client Care Coordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service at Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley. She is experienced in supporting and advocating for family violence victims, and is a victim-survivor.

Silvana Erenchun Perez is the Strategic Manager of Shama Ethnic Women’s Trust. Shama provides culturally-appropriate support, advocacy, and programmes to ethnic women, their children and families. This includes addressing sexual violence in ethnic communities through operating a national sexual violence crisis coordination and therapeutic service, and activities in prevention in ethnic communities. Silvana has previously worked as a journalist giving voice to groups not represented in traditional media.

Sarah Croskery-Hewitt is lawyer, who worked with Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley focused primarily on access to justice issues facing survivors of family and sexual violence, and establishing a specialist immigration law service for migrant women experiencing violence. She is one of the inaugural Borrin Foundation Community Law Fellows completing research on the intersection of immigration law and family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand, and she is currently undertaking PhD research at the University of Wollongong on the use of intoxication evidence in sexual assault trials.

Dhilum Nightingale has been a lawyer for over 20 years, including working with Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley in their Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service as a rōia hapori (community lawyer). She assists migrant survivors of domestic violence with visa applications and appeals to the Immigration & Protection Tribunal, and she also works on migrant exploitation work in employment. She is also a barrister at Kate Sheppard Chambers with expertise in humanitarian immigration law and employment and immigration advocacy for migrant workers experiencing exploitation in their workplaces.

Megan Williams is a lawyer and law reform advocate at Community Law Centres o Aotearoa, working in the areas of immigration and refugee law, social welfare and housing law, family violence and access to justice.  Megan previously led the Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service (RILAS) at Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley for nine years, with a particular focus on refugee family reunification and family violence visas and assisted in the establishment of specialist family violence visa service for migrant women. She continues to provide legal supervision to the RILAS team and is also a member of the New Zealand Law Society and the Auckland District Law Society Immigration and Refugee Law Committees and a Board member of Changemakers Refugee Forum

Panel host: Charlotte Moore (Rangitāne o Wairau) is Kaiwhakahaere at the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse.

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Resources

Recent Migrant Victims of Family Violence Project 2019: final report (2020) by Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment; also see our related news story New report identifies barriers for migrant victims of family violence in immigration policies

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine Women’s Employment Action Plan (2022)

Inquiry into migrant exploitation, Report of the Education and Workforce Committee (2022)

Proposed Member's Bill Protecting Migrant Victims of Family Violence Bill, introduced by Jan Logie

Living at the cutting edge: women's experiences of protection orders: Volume 1 the women's stories and Volume 2 : what's to be done? A critical analysis of statutory and practice approaches to domestic violence (2007)

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā hau e whā, tēnā koutou katoa.

Te Whare Māori presents a webinar series where Māori talk about the highs and lows of navigating the myriad challenges that whānau face living life in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In ‘Tāne talks’ (the first in this series), tāne kōrero frankly about the ups and downs of whānau life, especially through 2020 and COVID-19.