30 Years Of Self-defence, Now We Need Your Help – Scoop

Wednesday, 30 March 2022, 5:38 pmPress Release: Kia Haumaru

PhotoCredit Roxy Coervers

After 30 yearsof providing free and accessible empowerment self-defencetraining to girls, women and members of the LGBTTQIA+community across Aotearoa, Kia Haumaru Personal SafetyEducation is launching its firstCrowdfunder!

Recipients of the 2022 GenerosityGenerator mentorship programme run in partnership by TheFunding Network, Givealittle and Chorus; Kia Haumaru isready to dip their toes into the world of onlinecrowdfunding with their campaign launching later thisweek.

Running from April 1 to April 15 2022 KiaHaumaru aims to raise $25,000 - enough funds to equip 1000more girls and women with their custom written, lifechanging safety education.

Formerly known as WomensSelf Defence Network Whine Toa, Kia Haumaru is theonly accredited safety education network in Aotearoaproviding free and accessible safety education in schools,tertiary institutions and community venues nationwide. Theirfocus is on preventing violence; specifically physical,sexual and emotional violence against ktiro, whine andmembers of the LGBTTQIA+ community. Alongside physicalself-defence techniques, the course content address rapeculture, teaches confidence, consent, personal empowermentand ways to respond and get help when violence hasoccurred.

Kia Haumaru Kairahi Roxy Coervers saysAotearoa has a shameful record for family harm, ranking#1 in the OECD for family violence. 1 out of every 3 womenexperience gender based violence in their lifetime, and ifwe include incidents of emotional abuse and coercion/controltactics that statistic rises to 1 in 2 women. These arechallenging figures to witness, and paired with theknowledge that 76% of family violence incidents gounreported, offers a sobering snapshot of the currentreality ktiro and whine in Aotearoa are enduring. Thisis why the early intervention work we do is so important,the need continues to escalate as the rates of gender basedviolence in Aotearoa continue to reach newheights.

The ongoing effects of the pandemic havecreated an even more volatile and dangerous environment forgirls, women and persons of marginalised genders tonavigate, with violence prevention experts dubbing it theshadow pandemic. As a frontline violence preventionservice Kia Haumaru has seen the escalation in incidents ofviolence first hand, through the process of collectingdisclosures of abuse from course participants. The majorityof these disclosures of abuse are first time disclosures, asthe course is often the first opportunity a participant hasin a safe space to talk about their experiences of violencewith an accredited violence prevention expert and accesshelp.

Kia Haumaru as a registered charity NGO isreliant on government funding and private donations toundertake their critical work. This Crowdfunding campaignwill help to empower more participants throughout Aotearoa,allowing the continued challenging of these statisticsthrough changing the attitudes and behaviours around genderbased violence and providing participants with education,resilience and opportunities forhealing.

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30 Years Of Self-defence, Now We Need Your Help - Scoop