HEART Hot Topic - Child Abuse
This month HEART’s Hot Topic takes a look at the live video that Anihera Zhou Black posted to her Facebook profile and what others have been saying about it. In the video, Anihera speaks about child sexual abuse and her late husband Te Awanuiārangi Black. The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times, shared virally on social media, and reported on widely in the news.
Away from the mainstream news sites, people have been writing and speaking about the opportunities and challenges that Anihera’s statement presents to communities all over New Zealand.
Speaking in an interview for Kawekōrero on Maori Television, MP Kiri Allan says that although some of the worst child abuse statistics in the developed world exist in Aotearoa, we still don’t really talk about the sexual violation of children. She says that now that Anihera has "lifted a lid on Pandora’s Box...it is incumbent upon us as communities to respond". Kiri expresses her belief that as communities it is important not to focus just on the individuals involved, but to get to the ngakau of the issue, which is the sacredness of our tamariki and the fact that so many have suffered, and continue to suffer, in silence.
On her blog The Non-Plastic Maori, Tina Ngata calls Anihera’s act of speaking out ‘incredibly selfless’ and ‘courageous’ and goes on to say that as much as she supports Anihera’s stand, this is not about Anihera, or Te Awanuiārangi, it is about us all. Tina writes that Anihera has presented all of us with an opportunity to create safe spaces to talk about sexual abuse in our communities and claim power back from abusers. This is important, she says, because "for as long as a community is NOT talking openly about sexual abuse and sexual boundaries – all pedophiles feel safe, and will continue to carry out their acts". Tina adds that there is a need to fully understand the reasons behind child sexual abuse if we truly intend to break cycles, and therefore in our conversations, we need to be discussing issues such as past trauma, colonization, toxic masculinity, and power abuse. We need to think about these issues and how we may all be unintentionally enabling and participating in the culture of secrecy and silence around abuse because of them. As Tina presents it, the challenge now is for communities to carefully consider how they can create safe spaces for these conversations to take place.
Russell Smith of Korowai Tumanako, known as an expert on child abuse issues, was also interviewed for Kawekōrero and says that these conversations must become part of the normal agenda at hui, as part of a prevention strategy. He suggests that as a starting point it should be acknowledged that it isn’t an easy conversation for people to have and says that this acknowledgment opens the doorway for the next part of the conversation.
Graham Cameron writes for The Spinoff that "to risk your own mana and the mana of your whanau and your community by speaking plainly and directly [as Anihera has done] takes courage, mana, and certainty". He states that shame and the desire to keep the peace can prevent people from talking about or acting on child sexual abuse, meaning that the damage caused ripples out through generations. Graham describes Anihera’s call to survivors to speak their truth as a chance to break the cycle of abuse. He challenges all of us to break the silence, let victims know we are with them, and have courageous conversations about sexual abuse. He adds that "hoping to avoid controversy by saying nothing is commensurate to condoning the ongoing cycle of violence and abuse".
To read the full articles or watch Kiri Allan’s or Russell Smith’s interviews just click the links in the text above.