'He Waka Eke Noa’ is a Kaupapa Māori project driven by Iwi and Māori social service providers’ desire to investigate the role of cultural frameworks in strengthening the prevention of family and sexual violence and providing intervention policies, practices and programmes. It is a collaborative project developed with a range of Kaupapa Māori organisations and researchers. The project is grounded in Kaupapa Māori theory and methodology, and all components of the project are co-designed and co-produced, so there is a strong commitment from all parties to ensure that tikanga, te reo, mātauranga Māori and whanaungatanga provide us with both cultural and ethical ways to progress this work to benefit whānau,
hapū, iwi, urban Māori and Māori organisations.

‘He Waka Eke Noa’ focuses on Māori understandings of wellbeing and how wellbeing is affected by violence. International evidence indicates that culture can be an effective ‘buffer’ in the area of family violence prevention and in healing the impacts of violence (Balzer et.al. 1997; Walters 2002, 2011). ‘He Waka Eke Noa’ focuses on providing evidence-based knowledge to support effective responses to
family and sexual violence, grounded on Māori culturally defined programmes and initiatives. Our approach took a broad view of violence, capturing the complex factors that contribute to the prevalence of violence both within and upon whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities. The research engaged
Māori and Indigenous understandings of family violence as multi-layered and impactful on all levels of individual and collective Māori experiences. This approach aligns with the World Health Organisation (2002, 2014) description of violence that impacts both individually and collectively and includes the four modes of violence: physical, sexual, and psychological attack, and deprivation, which forms the basis for numerous reports on violence including the Global Status Report on Violence Prevention (World Health Organisation. 2014).

The research investigated a range of explanations for violence in Aotearoa, both individual and collective. It focused on two key areas of investigation: (i) understanding the sources or origins of violence in Aotearoa, both interpersonal and collective, and (ii) the ways in which culture informs the development of successful approaches to violence reduction, specifically with regard to tikanga and mātauranga Māori. (From the Introduction). Record #8477