Kaitiakitanga te Hapori
VisAble’s Family and Sexual Violence (FVSV) Disability Network
The kaitiakitanga te hapori is a network that is part of a national plan to end family violence and sexual violence.
We are working with Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence (formerly Te Puna Aonui) to make sure tangata whanāu whaikaha Māori, disabled people, and families are included in this important kaupapa.
We are building a network to:
· Listen to the voices of disabled people
· Understand barriers to getting help
· Create solutions together, based on lived experience.
This network is called Kaitiakitanga te Hapori, which means a community that protects and uplifts each other.
What we do
We engage with the wider disability community and facilitate hui with tangata whanāu whaikaha Māori, disabled people, and families, to:
· Build trust through sharing and connection
· Support understanding of family violence, sexual violence, and safeguarding
· Talk about what stops people from getting help
· Come up with solutions to make help easier to accessWhat we do
We engage with the wider disability community and facilitate hui with tangata whanāu whaikaha Māori, disabled people, and families, to:
· Build trust through sharing and connection
· Support understanding of family violence, sexual violence, and safeguarding
· Talk about what stops people from getting help
· Come up with solutions to make help easier to access
Our process follows four steps:
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Whakawhanaungatanga
Getting to know each other and building trust
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Information gathering
Listening to stories and lived experiences
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Designing solutions
Creating ideas together
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Testing ideas
Checking the solutions with our community and sharing them with the Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence and others
Why this is important
Many disabled people face barriers when they try to get help or speak up about abuse. They are often left out of decisions and planning. This mahi is important because it:
· centres the voices of disabled people
· shows that lived experience is valued expertise
· helps create safer systems that work for everyone
Our approach
VisAble’s values form the foundation of our work. In these hui, this is how we apply our values:
· Manaakitanga – creating space for people to be themselves
· Kaitiakitanga – protecting the voice and trust of our community
· Mana taurite – making sure everyone has a fair chance to speak and be heard
· Mana motuhake – self-determination; people choose how they want to take part
· Kotahitanga – working together, side by side, to create change
What people say
“You made a space where we could be real. No masks. Just us.”
“I was crapping myself on the way here. But today, everything that’s been stuck inside my whole life—it came out.”
“Never laughed so much in a violence workshop before. It felt good to feel safe and still be myself.”
“I didn’t realise how much abuse in our community goes unseen. This gave me tools to notice and respond better.”
