Domestic Violence in New Zealand: Impact on Iwi and Whanau Communities

Running head: SOCIAL WORK
Social Work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL WORK
Introduction
The factor of domestic violence has been one of the most crucial issues among women in
New Zealand. It has been a big factor in both iwi and whanau communities in New Zealand. The
violence among women has been rising all the more. Therefore, it has been a matter of concern
among all the people in the country. In the last few decades, New Zealand has been trying to get
rid of this issue but it has not been working properly. Public education campaigns have been
organized in the country so this issue could be curbed.
Thesis statement: Domestic violence in New Zealand among Iwi and Whanau communities
has been a barrier to growth of the country and overall society.
Explanation on domestic violence among iwi communities
Generally domestic violence suggests tremendous torture on women by their male
partners within their houses (Chappell & Curtin, 2013). However, it has focused about family
structure in those tribal communities and how children and women go through mental
harassments. Historical impacts of this issue domestic violence are many. It has been suggested
that Maori people especially Iwi and Whanau communities began to move to cities to earn their
livelihoods during the beginning of 1930s. However, during the times of Second World War, it
was obvious that Maori women had to move to cities and urban migration began to increase in
this way (Morgan & Mattson, 2018). Maori women began to seek jobs which were previously
dominated by males. Then women were largely discriminated and they faced issues regarding
their health, education of their children and hosing facilities. These women were harassed in their
workplaces as well (Wilson, Jackson & Herd, 2016). Gender inequality has been one of the
biggest reasons behind this. The current legislations are trying to prevent this sort of violence

2SOCIAL WORK
among women. The legislations regarding criminal justice system have been updated recently to
punish these offenders. Despite so many attempts to stop these harassments, women in Iwi and
Whanau communities face many hazards when dealing with their male partners in the society.
Sexual violence has been one of the biggest examples of domestic violence in this regard. Things
like distressful sexual touching, forced sexual intercourse, attempted forced sexual intercourse
and other things have been reported that are subjects to be concerned with.
The indigenous people in the country are tortured and harassed. This is why people have
sought the help of administration to curb down this issue. Historically, intimate partner violence
(IPV) has been one of the biggest problems for the overall growth of the country. The society is
not progressing because of the presence of these problems (Simon‐Kumar et al., 2017). In the
context of society of New Zealand, Maori communities such as iwi and whanau people are
represented as the biggest victims of this intimate partner violence. The crime surveys in New
Zealand suggest that Iwi and Whanau communities have not been courageous enough to report
these problems to the police. Theerefore, the rates have been increasing internally without the
interference of police or crime departments in the country.
Amidst these discriminations, protests began to grow and the need for establishing a
national organization for women of Iwi communities. These social issues would have to curbed
and needs of those Maori women had to be met (Morgan & Mattson, 2018). Some Women
Welfare Committees had been set up and the need for getting help went on to grow. The readings
for this paper have undergone a thorough research to discover how Women Welfare Committees
began to solve the issues. Both Iwi and Whanau communities of Maori tribes had been largely
benefitted (Morrison & Davenne, 2016). The number of Women Welfare Committees began to
expand and it stretched across many district councils of the country.