Marae community panels will help the community tackle whānau violence head on

Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha. Photo / Stephen Parker

Police have launched a new marae community initiative to help stem the rise of family violence.

Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha said the Tiaki Whānau programme - being trialled in six locations and launched at Mangere’s Nga Whare Waatea Marae - had the potential to reduce harm to victims but also make those responsible more accountable.

The programme will sit within the scope of the Te Pae Oranga community panels.

Te Pae Oranga has been running on marae very successfully since 2014. This initiative allows panels, made up of community members, the ability to consider some family harm cases, determine sanctions and look for outcomes that make the offender accountable while considering the needs of the victim.

Haumaha said police are called to more than 175,000 domestic incidents a year, and what’s often important in those cases is the preventive element.

“How do we protect women and children inside households? And if I look at the number of victimisations of Māori women, particularly where we launched in south Auckland, it’s horrific. And also the number of children that witness domestic violence,” Haumaha told Waatea New.Com.

“It’s incumbent on us as responsible people and for Māori to take ownership of these issues.

Nga Whare Waatea Marae manager John Cameron says Tiaki Whanau would allow community panels the ability to focus on offenders and victims in an attempt to deal with crime and prevent reoffending.

“What we’re looking to do is work with the whole whānau instead of just the victims and offenders, so it’s working with whānau and working in the family harm space, so trying to work on the whole whānau instead of just those involved in the raru.”

He expects to run up to three Tiaki Whanau panels a week, on top of other restorative justice activities.

Tiaki Whanau will be trialled at six centres from Northland to Dunedin.