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Weekly Media Roundup

November 25, 2022 at 4:43 PM

NZ Herald: She Is Not Your Rehab: Moko Rangitoheriri’s father speaks out in new doco #WhoIsShe 

Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence 

The founders of the anti-domestic violence organisation She Is Not Your Rehab, Matt and Sarah Brown, have unveiled their latest campaign to raise awareness of a new kaupapa called Who is She? 

The short documentary #WhoIsShe, created by Brandon Te Moana-Nui, highlights the harsh reality that people live with after receiving, living with or committing domestic abuse. 

 

Newshub: Youth crime: Anti-domestic violence advocate says parents need to take responsibility, be role models 

Youth crime has been under the spotlight with the blame being tossed between the Government, society and the children responsible for the spate of crime across the country. 

 

NZ Herald: White Ribbon Day: Northland man who put his fists down shares how others can too 

“I was a victim and I became a perpetrator,” former Black Power president Phil Paikea says. 

The Ruakākā-based SafeMan SafeFamily lead facilitator learned quickly as a young boy to suppress his tears. 

“A lot of my friends got the bash with a jandal or a wooden spoon. I wish that was us,” he said. 

“We got the bash with the hoover’s metal hose or the kettle cord that would leave marks, and if we showed emotion or we’d cry, Dad would say, ‘I’ll give you something to cry about’.” 

Because Paikea didn’t want to be hit anymore, he “crushed” that emotion and learned to “cry on the inside” instead. 

“What that did was make us totally void of empathy for others,” he said. 

And thus began violence led by Paikea’s own fists. 

 

Stuff: Bikie gang member: recession could trigger violence and abuse 

The rising cost of living and looming recession could create a perfect storm for an increase in family violence. That’s the view of a bikie gang member and anti-violence against women advocate. 

Member of the Patriots bike gang as well as the Super Māori Fullas, Jack Paki was a guest speaker at a dinner in Tauranga to mark White Ribbon Day and raise funds for Women’s Refuge. 

The Patriots started in Auckland in 1998, and has hundreds of chapters around Aotearoa. Paki thinks that the group needs to mobilise against the “social monster” of violence against women and children. 

 

RNZ: Pay equity deal to extend to community and iwi social workers - Minister 

The government has announced a pay equity deal for community-based social workers expected to benefit 4600 employees. 

It brings pay rates for community-based social services to the level of Oranga Tamariki social workers after the government reached a settlement with them in 2018. 

However, it is unclear how much it will all cost. 

The 2018 settlement - worth $114.6 million over five years - was based on the historical undervaluation of social workers, as a workforce largely staffed by women. 

About 84 percent of the total social work workforce are women, and Māori and Pacific people also make up a high proportion. 

 

Stuff: 4600 community social workers to get pay equity with Oranga Tamariki counterparts 

 

1 News: Pay equity deal extended to all community social workers 

 

Newsroom: ‘I had serious concussion, bad credit and $15,000 debt’ – abuse survivor 

Warning: This article contains descriptions of domestic violence that will be upsetting for some readers. 

Parliament is urged to make an immediate law change to protect those who suffer economic abuse in relationships 

 

RNZ: Separate offence needed to protect victims of economic harm, advocates say 

 

RNZ: Advocates urge law change to address financial abuse 

 

Newsroom: Quarantine and punish - our national response to trauma 

Analysis: Aaron Smale puts National's response to youth crime in the context of our country's response to trauma 

 

Stuff: A domestic violence victim was ordered to pay her abuser’s court fees. Is that fair? 

When Laura’s relationship broke down, her ex became obsessed with keeping tabs on her new life. He used her password to unlock her laptop and download Laura’s intimate photos, and her private messages to another man. 

He turned up at what he thought was the new boyfriend’s address, only to find the house belonged to the man’s mother. “Your mum seems nice,” he texted the man. Laura was left chilled. 

For three years, the man harassed and intimidated Laura and her new partners in various other ways. Once he hired a private investigator to follow her. 

Once he was caught following her himself. In a protection order hearing in the Family Court last year, the man denied his behaviour was abusive, and said Laura was manipulating evidence against him. But the presiding judge found the man, a lawyer, had been using psychological violence. 

 

RNZ: Hundreds of teenagers warned or prosecuted for revenge porn 

Hundreds of children and teenagers are among those warned or prosecuted for revenge porn. 

People under the age of 19 now account for a third of the more than 2000 offenders police have dealt with since 2017. 

Police figures obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act show the number of reports of people sharing intimate or explicit images without the subject's permission has more than doubled in the past five years. 

Last year victims reported nearly 1400 cases to police, a jump from 660 in 2017 and already in the first six months of this year alone there were 665 reports. 

Police sexual assault and child protection manager David Kirby attributes this to more people spending more time online. 

 

Stuff: 40% of young Kiwis considered suicide or self-harm in past year, survey finds 

Three-quarters of young Kiwis felt stressed and unable to cope in the past year, with 40% saying they have seriously considered suicide or self-harm. 

That’s according to research from an international mental health survey, published on Wednesday. 

Market research company Ipsos surveyed more than 20,000 people across 34 countries, including 1000 Kiwis aged 18 and over, from September 12 to 18. 

The research revealed almost two-thirds (63%) of young New Zealanders (18 to 35) surveyed felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more, and 51% felt stressed to the point they could not go to work. 

 

1 News: Teen waits nearly 2 years for OT to address abuse in care complaints 

Ihorangi Peters has just recently turned 17. 

But he's already well known in the community as a regular voice on issues affecting children in care. 

He's been seen at Parliament, shared his views on the care system with multiple news organisations, and has been given awards for his advocacy of others. 

But today this story is about him. It's about his battle to get answers from Oranga Tamariki over abuse he suffered in its care. 

He was taken out of the care of his parents while he was just a baby, before entering state care at 10 years of age. 

 

Stuff: Are we there yet in providing a better life for our children? Hardly 

Today is World Children’s Day, the day we celebrate the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It’s a day to shine a spotlight on children rights and how well we’re doing in upholding these rights here in Aotearoa and around the world. According to Save the Children’s Jacqui Southey, we still have a way to go. 

 

The Spinoff: I was in care for just 10 days as a child and I was sexually abused 

Abused as a 12-year-old, David Hill’s circumstances were different from many of those now telling their stories to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, but his sense of confusion and shame was the same – as was his urge to stay silent for years. 

 

1 News: New 'wearable watch' a preventative measure for family harm 

A new watch was launched at Papakura Marae on Friday, providing a wraparound service for those who suffer from family violence. 

The device is part of a family violence prevention programme established between the marae and victim support organisation Help@Hand. 

When activated, the watch sends a silent alarm to notify police of an active family violence event. 

 

Newsroom: Iran feels the wrath of a movement held down for too long 

The death of Mahsa Amini unleashed outrage at the Iranian government's treatment of women long simmering beneath the surface, writes Ladan Rahbari of the University of Amsterdam in part one of a series on standing up to violence against women 

 

Stuff: Domestic violence campaigner Lesley Elliott dies after 'incredibly difficult' illness 

Lesley Elliott’s husband of 50 years has paid tribute to the domestic violence campaigner, who has died following an “incredibly difficult” battle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia. 

The 76-year-old, who was the mother of Sophie Elliot, died at Ross Home in Dunedin on Sunday. 

Following the brutal murder of Sophie by her former boyfriend Clayton Weatherston in 2008, Lesley set up the Sophie Elliott Foundation and toured New Zealand teaching young people about safe and healthy relationships and the warning signs of abuse. 

Gil Elliott paid tribute to his former wife of 50 years, who became a tireless campaigner after their daughter’s death. 

 

Stuff: Cops launch sexual assault prevention campaign, but they're 'not the sex police' 

Police have launched a sexual assault prevention campaign in Auckland, described by an officer as “not the sex police”. 

The “Don’t Guess The Yescampaign has been launched in time for Christmas party season. First run in Wellington in 2018, it was relaunched in there last week and now rolled out in Auckland. 

Police called the Wellington initiative a success, but couldn’t point to statistical evidence for why the campaign should be extended to Auckland. Instead, police said figures would be available next year. 

The campaign will run with a social media and poster campaign raising consent awareness for drinkers, and would further train hospitality staff on how to spotting abuse early. 

 

Rotorua Daily Post: Infanticide or murder: Trial begins for Melody Ngawhika, accused of suffocating baby son 

Warning: This article contains distressing content 

As 27-year-old Melody Ngawhika held her dead baby in her arms, she pondered what to do next. 

She went into her bedroom, wrapped the lifeless six-month-old boy in blankets, and pulled a nearby duffle bag closer. 

But she couldn’t bring herself to place the child in the bag, instead succumbing to her own conscience. 

“Arrest me. I’ve done it. I’ve suffocated my baby,” the Crown says Ngawhika told officers on the porch of her Rotorua home in the small hours of August 29 last year, after ringing the police. 

She later told police: “The voices told me to do it.” 

 

NZ Herald: Bankrupt builder Jaden Melgren jailed for rape of sleeping woman 

WARNING: This story deals with sexual offending and may be distressing. 

A former Queenstown builder who went bankrupt owing almost $1 million and was dubbed “completely reckless”, has been jailed for rape. 

Jaden Arian Melgren appeared in the Hamilton District Court today where he was sentenced to prison for six years and four months by Judge Jonathan Down. 

 

Stuff: Sex offender who abused two young girls jailed for 7.5 years 

A man who sexually abused two young girls for more than three years has been sent to prison. 

Sam Hanson previously pleaded guilty to a representative charge of sexual conduct with a child under 12 and another of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection. 

The offending took place between November 2017 and December 2020, and the two victims were both aged under 12 throughout that time. 

 

Stuff: Child has ongoing nightmares after sexual assault, offender gets 10 years in jail 

A child who was sexually assaulted by a person their family trusted continues to have nightmares, a court has heard. 

The girl, who was between 3 and 5-years-old when she was abused. 

Matthew Edwards sexually offended against five young children, all under the age of 12, over a five-year period. He filmed some of the offending. 

He was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months at the High Court at Auckland by Justice Geoffrey Venning on Thursday. He has to serve at least 6 years before being eligible for parole. 

 

Stuff: Blenheim man jailed for indecently assaulting three children 

A Blenheim man jailed for sexually abusing three children seemed to care more about himself than the lifelong harm he caused them, a judge says. 

Peter Anthony Snowden, 67, admitted a string of charges of indecent assault against three girls aged under 12 over a 13-year period. 

Despite his guilty pleas earlier this year, Snowden told report writers he did not recall the offending due to his heavy drinking, and that it was just physical contact that had been misconstrued, according to sentencing documents released last week. 



Category: News Media