Tahu Kukutai: Kahui deaths demand wide-ranging response

In the highly politicised terrain of New Zealand race issues, it is predictable that the tragic deaths of the Kahui twins have come to be seen as a symbol of the endemic violence and abuse in Maori families and communities.

I, for one, was not surprised when Christine "do-the-rumba" Rankin shrilly informed us that Maori women are inured to domestic violence because they are beaten from a young age. Or that our own reformed warrior, Alan Duff, declared there is a "modern culture of violence that has affected Maoridom forever".

I was a little bemused, however, to hear June Jackson, Parekura Horomia, and Pita Sharples exhort Maori to step up and own their problem. I must have missed the part about which Maori, but I hope they did not finger us all.

As someone of Maori descent who proudly and unequivocally identifies as Maori, I have no reservations in saying that this particular problem is not mine to be owned - at least not by virtue of my ethnic affiliation. Watching the coverage of the babies' deaths evoked a range of emotions, but culpability was not one.

Why would it be? To hold Maori collectively accountable for the actions of individual child abusers and spouse beaters, never mind to charge them with the task of solving the problem, is no less ridiculous than urging Pakeha to join as one and stage interventions for their white-collar criminals.

It's a facile argument, but unfortunately one that seems to resonate.

And it's not difficult to see why. The care and protection of children have long been arenas where power struggles over the place of Maori culture and the role of families and communities have played out.

The Government has made much of collaborating with Maori politicians and cultural advisers to find Maori solutions to so-called Maori problems, even as the resources required to effect transformative change have been lacking.

Maori advocates add fuel to the fire by peddling a romanticised notion of the whanau, while failing to acknowledge that the lofty cultural ideal of whanaungatanga remains elusive for many.

All of which provides ready ammunition for those who would like to see "special Maori" funding withdrawn on the basis that we are all one nation, one people. Except when Maori are misbehaving. Then those blurred ethnic boundaries become clear.

It doesn't help, of course, when culprits run for cover, truculent family advocates appear on primetime telly, and opportunistic politicians weigh in. It was galling to watch Kahui family advocate/apologist Ani Hawke deliver her sharing, caring portrayal of the family and appeal for understanding as they worked through their issues.

Pending an overhaul of the New Zealand justice system, it is not the role of any family, Maori or otherwise, to rally together the rellies to get to the "truth" over a cuppa. Law 101: police conduct homicide inquiries, not the kin group of the accused.

Perhaps someone should have told this to Sharples who rode "gallantly" into the fray, trusty kaumatua in tow, to elicit a confession from the unco-operative Kahuis, only to find that rousing a clan member from his drunken stupor was an ineffective intervention strategy.

Although doubtless well intentioned, Sharples' actions reveal a certain naivety in assuming that cultural censuring will bring about change in contexts where culture is not respected and functional relationships are all but non-existent.

Social sanctioning works best if those being sanctioned actually value their relationships with the broader group. The irony is that the families for whom such solutions are most effective are rarely those who make the national headlines.

Yet the question raised by the Kahui deaths is an important one: why are Maori over-represented among physically abused children?

I am no expert, but even a cursory web search reveals a plethora of international research on the risk factors associated with child abuse. And while most countries have racial differences in the prevalence of reported child abuse, race in and of itself rarely figures as a primary explanation.

More important are demographic and contextual factors such as family size and structure, household income and resources, and parental characteristics such as age, educational attainment, and historical problems with alcohol and solvent abuse. Bearing these in mind, the more urgent questions would seem to be: why are Maori over-represented in those contexts?

This question is much trickier to answer and would require the Government to admit that the "gaps" it no longer speaks of might actually exist.

While sustained research on child abuse is clearly needed in New Zealand, it cannot answer the question of who owns the problem of child abuse. That is the question that we as a nation must grapple with.

Does the blame lie with individual abusers? With the families of abusers, no matter how distant, disconnected or dysfunctional? With communities defined by kinship, culture or geography? With politicians and policy-makers? Who?

And having claimed ownership, what action ought to be taken? Does it mean removing children from unsafe environments and placing them with people who will provide nurturing, attention and security? Does it mean addressing head-on the litany of ills that amplify the risk of abuse occurring in the first place?

The problem is a multi-dimensional and systemic one that demands a sustained, well-resourced, committed and creative political and civic response. It will cost the taxpayers, but it's a small price to pay.

Because until a sustained and genuine response is undertaken - not just grandstanding and finger-pointing - we can only hold our breath until the next heinous death occurs. Something tells me we will not have to wait long.

* Tahu Kukutai is a doctoral student in sociology at Stanford University in California.


Readers' Views

The Kahui tragedy will be seen as the tipping point to stop these senseless killings. What will not matter is continual paralysis by analysis. Do your good work at Stanford - play the indigenous Maori woman - write a paper and finish your doctorate and then everyone will forget about you. The senseless killing of the Kahui twins however will remain forefront in people's minds who will work to ensure these killings stop.
- - - posted 8.40am by Warren Malpas