About the Toolkit
 

This website is a collaboration between Te Wānanga o Raukawa and Creative Interventions. 
It is based on the Creative Interventions toolkit: A practical guide to stop interpersonal violence.

Te Wānanga o Raukawa

This website is a koha from Te Wānanga o Raukawa to support people ending violence.  

Te Wānanga o Raukawa is a tikanga Māori tertiary education provider based in Ōtaki, Aotearoa.  It was established in 1981 by the Raukawa Marae Trustees under the principles of the iwi development strategy, Whakatupuranga Rua Mano: Generation 2000.  Whakatupuranga Rua Mano captured the health and wellbeing aspirations of the ART Confederation of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, the founding iwi of Te Wānanga o Raukawa.

The four founding principles of Whakatupuranga Rua Mano were:

  • Our people are our wealth: develop and retain
  • Te reo is a taonga: halt the decline and revive
  • The marae is our principle home: maintain and respect
  • Self-determination: find opportunities to advance our aspirations.

This project was started to support communities based on the Wānanga experience with Te Kawa o te Ako.  Te Kawa o te Ako requires everyone at the wānanga to be responsible for their behaviour, in particular any behaviour that affects the learning and teaching potential of staff and students.  If someone’s behaviour makes it harder for them or others to learn or teach, that behaviour needs to stop, and they might need to show that they can be trusted in future.

All activities of Te Wānanga o Raukawa are guided by a set of kaupapa or principles.

Guiding kaupapa and their expression

 

What is our vision?

This toolkit brings together vision and practice to respond to and end violence.

Our vision is based on the following assumptions:

  • Help comes from those closest to you—friends, whānau, neighbours, co-workers and community members. This model does not rely on social services, agencies or the police, but it can be used alongside them if you want.  With the help of this toolkit, you may be able to create a response which is quicker, safer and more effective than professional services or the police.

  • People experiencing violence may need or want to stay in their relationships People often think that if there is abuse, the person who was harmed needs to end their relationship.  If you want violence to stop but also need or want to stay in your relationship, it can be harder to find support.  This toolkit has information and tools to help find support and help people support you.

  • Community responses strengthen communities and people. This approach focuses on communities supporting each other to respond to and end violence.  It does not rely on police, social services or state agencies.

  • Preparing for action leads to safety, support and transformation This toolkit supports actions that move towards goals of safety, support and transformation from violence.  Every action makes a difference.  Taking more control over our lives and making healthy and positive decisions leads to more options for safety and transformation.

  • Change takes time and support. Changing violence, repairing from violence, and creating new ways of being free from violence takes time.  This toolkit can guide people through the difficult process of repair and change.

  • For the person harmed, the tools aim to help with responding to, stopping and preventing violence, without blaming you for your choices, and supporting your own needs and wants.

  • For the person doing harm, the tools aim to help you to recognise, end and be responsible for your violence (what we also call accountability), without giving you excuses, and without denying your humanity (without demonising).

  • For people who want to help, the tools aim to help you with understanding, responding to, stopping and preventing violence.  It may include supporting the person harmed in the way that they want, and supporting the person causing harm to stop and take accountability for their violence.
  • Stronger communities are self-determining, healthy and sustainable. This toolkit supports practical responses to individual situations of violence.  Its larger vision is growing self-determined, healthy and sustainable communities.  When the people most affected by violence can choose who is best to help them and how to respond to and end violence, our communities and community leadership may change.  As these approaches, skills and attitudes become part of everyday community responses to violence, our communities will resist the devastation of interpersonal violence, and move towards greater self-determination and well-being for all. 


Contact Us

If you have feedback on this website or you want to share your story, write to us at mataora@twor-otaki.ac.nz