Woman plans 250km run to keep kids safe

As a child, Kahira Rata-Olley would wedge a knife in the door to keep her teenage abuser outside.

Kahira Rata-Olley is on a mission to spread the word that domestic and sexual abuse is not okay.

So she's decided to run 250km from Rotorua beginning on the 25th of this month and hoping to arrive in Flaxmere on the 29th.

She is a survivor of childhood abuse and is heading a campaign called "Running to Stop It".

Her message is to stand up and speak out against domestic violence and sexual abuse. She is running with a purpose and that is to stop the vicious cycle. She is running to Flaxmere in Hastings because that is one of the places where she was abused.

Her sexual abuse began at the age of just 7 by a 14-year-old tormentor who would continue to abuse her for years. He threatened to chop her and her family up into little pieces if she ever told anyone.

Her only reprieve from her abuser was to put a knife in the door, which would act as a lock, so that he couldn't come into the room at night time.

It acted as a saviour not only for her but for the other children he was abusing. It's an experience she hopes to one day put into a book she will call "Shh, leave the knife in the door."

For years she was kept prisoner by her abuser and feared that if she spoke out that no one would believe her. Then one day she woke up and had had enough and decided that she would open her mouth.

Now at 45-years-old and with children and grandchildren of her own, she is a campaigner for a better and safer future not only for her children but for all children.

Ms Rata-Olley hopes to make this run a biennial event and welcomes anyone who would like to join her.