Media Release – E Tu Whānau in line with The People’s Report

17 June 2014

A spokesperson for E Tu Whānau, a strategy and plan of action for eliminating family and domestic violence based on Māori approaches, says that the Glenn Inquiry’s People’s Report findings are completely in line with the E Tu Whānau kaupapa.

The Chair of the E Tu Whānau Māori Reference Group, Darrin Haimona says Māori have known for a long time that past approaches and mainstream services will not work, in isolation from building Māori protective factors and ownership of the issues and, more particularly, the solutions.

“We realised that we needed to put our energy into what we could change and where we could make a difference – E Tu Whānau grew from that; it is grounded in our tikanga and what makes us strong as Māori. E Tu Whānau supports positive change owned by us, for whānau across Aotearoa.

“The People’s Report is powerful because it enables survivors of abuse to speak their truth. The 500 people who were interviewed for The Report identified some key themes that underpin E Tu Whānau – early intervention, a holistic whole-of-whānau approach, cultural understanding and community action.

“And this is working for Māori – E Tu Whānau is supporting action across the country – in whānau and hapū, on marae, in prisons and churches. It is also growing leadership at all levels of Māori society.”

E Tu Whānau has been working within tikanga Māori to combat domestic violence since 2008.

“Everything in The People’s Report is covered by the E Tu Whānau Programme of Action, but it is great that these same messages are being echoed by the Glenn Inquiry,” Darrin Haimona says.

http://etuwhanau.org/

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