Quilters tell tale of violence

Jacqui Brouwer with daughter Georgia and other members of the Rotorua group and their quilt that features domestic violence. Picture / Alan Gibson

Lifting the veil on the domestic violence endured by one in four women at some stage of their lives is the aim of a group of Rotorua women.

They are making a quilt about the issue: a veiled layer will illustrate the "veil of silence", images of children will symbolise revaluing the child's status in society and a rainbow will represent a future of wellbeing.

Their quilt will be one of up to 50 in an exhibition on family violence at a national quilt symposium in Palmerston North in January.

The Human Rights Commission is sponsoring two awards of $500 each for the best entries.

The group were partly inspired by a woman who believed her love for her partner would cure his anger towards her. Throughout the relationship and pregnancy, she kept a diary of the violence she endured - and her hopes he would change. Four months before she was due to give birth to their second child, he killed her.

A Rotorua group member, Jacqui Brouwer, a volunteer in the commission's Taku Manawa programme that educates the vulnerable about their rights, said the women hoped to restore the value traditional Maori society placed on children, including the unborn child who died in her mother's womb.

"We are not honouring our children in this country at all well," she said.

The family violence theme is one of four competitions at the quilting symposium, whose entries close on November 1.

Symposium convenor Dianne Southey said between 1200 and 1500 quilters were expected. Quilts will be on display at the Palmerston North convention centre from January 19 to 24.