Campaign for a Violence Free Wairarapa

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Campaign for a Violence Free Wairarapa
Keynote Address to the Liberation From Violence
Conference Masterton 2nd May 2005
by Bob Francis Mayor of Masterton
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The Events that Shaped the campaign

• The Wairarapa had experienced a number of
  tragedies involving children
• Incidents went back a number of years
• The Incident on 8th December 2001 was the last
  straw!

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What would be a normal reaction?

• Protesting is a common reaction
• Blaming the perpetrator/s
• Blaming the government!
• It is always someone elses fault.

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What was our reaction?

• Initially the reaction of our community was
  similar
• After a community meeting we realised that we had
  to look at a structured approach
• A key to this was taking responsibility for the
  solution ourselves
• We realised that it was our problem

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So what did we do?

• A community response was developed by a steering
  group
• Community consultation followed, including a
  number of hui attended by prominent maori
  politicians
• Some groups felt that this was an over-reaction
  and more consultation followed
• strategy and structure agreed to by most
  community groups

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What were the key principles?

• Understand that this is a long term issue (at
  least a generation)
• Not to make it a project, but rather a campaign
  (De-projectise it!)
• Weave the work into the fabric of what Agencies,
  Community Groups and individuals do
• Use the campaign as the catalyst for widespread
  community and agency involvement (the
  contribution of agencies and community is vital.
  It must be THEIR Campaign - not the Committees.
  It is their ongoing work that makes it a success!)

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The Strategy...

• We developed 4 strands to base the campaign on
• We developed a structure to implement and guide
  the campaign
• we developed a launch plan
• The programme for the first 12 months was agreed

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The Strategy cont..

• Establishment of critical partnerships
• Change the attitudes of everyone to violence in
  our community
• Improve the wellbeing of the community
• Improve the coordination between agencies and
  community groups

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The Strategy cont.Critical partnerships

• Critical partnerships includes...
• between non-maori and maori
• between each of the district councils
• between agencies / groups
• between councils and government
• Charter between Campaign and Community Groups

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The Strategy cont.Changing Attitudes

• Changing Attitudes Includes...
• taking personal responsibility for our actions
• taking community responsibility for our
  collective actions
• understanding that violence has many forms -
  (including physical, psychological, emotional and
  sexual abuse)
• that we all have a part to play in the campaign
• Everyday communties an integral part

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The Strategy cont.improving wellbeing

• improving wellbeing includes...
• ensuring everyone feels they have a positive role
  in some way in this community (That they have a
  personal stake - An inclusive society)
• social workers in schools
• public safety initiatives (etc.)

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The Strategy cont.improving coordination

• improving coordination includes...
• networking
• inter-agency coordination
• community group coordination
• response protocols

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The Structure
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The StructureStrategic Development Group

• Composition of Strategic Development Group...
• Representatives of each Council
• Key Agencies
• Key Staff
• Role of Strategic Development Group...
• Strategic Direction
• Evaluation of the Campaign
• Finance and Funding

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The StructureProject Implementation Group

• Composition of Project Implementation Group...
• Representatives of each Council
• Key Agencies
• Key Staff
• Role of Project Implementation Group...
• Share Information
• Agree on Joint Projects
• Discuss Challenges and Successes

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The StructureSafer Communities Councils

• Agreed that staff management should be via the
  two Safer Community Councils in our area
• No new legal structure set up
• Funds are also managed through the Safer
  Communities Councils

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The Staff

• Two Key Staff
• Campaign Coordinator
• Kokiritia
• Work Cooperatively
• Have different job descriptions
• Play a significant role but are not the
  campaign!!!

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What is Success?

• The public and the media have a view on success
  of the campaign. If a violent act were to occur,
  some may say the campaign has not been a success
• This view is not supported by the campaign.
  Progress is sometimes spectacular, but more often
  than not is incremental - thus there is a
  generational timeframe to this

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Evaluation...

• The Strategic Development Group commissioned an
  evaluation of the Campaign last May, 2 years on
• Wairarapa REAP carried out a Social Audit which
  was published in August
• Very positive signals from the community
  indicating substantial progress has been made
• Indicated that we were heading in the right
  direction

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Some Key Successes

• Significant gains in both coordination and
  collaboration between agencies and community
  groups
• reduction of violence in many of the families
  with a long history of violence
• Partnership between Police, Refuge, Kokiritia
• Effective partnerships established and maintained
  between maori and non-maori groups
• Partnerships between the three District Councils

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Some Key Successes

• Kindness Day (www.kindnessday.org)
• Strong leadership from the Mayors and Council
  CEOs
• Strong and effective support by many community
  groups
• Charter signed by most agencies and groups
• An understanding that violence is not always
  physical
• Campaign reaching many layers of society
• Women reporting

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Further Education

• The report also highlighted the need for more
  education of schools, professionals, agencies and
  community groups
• To this end a kit is being prepared that will...
• Provide generic information about the campaign
• Provide specific Information for each group
• help ensure that Key Agency and Community Group
  Staff understand the Campaign and their role in it

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and... so What is Next?

• The Campaign is working through its current
  annual Objectives
• Ongoing succession planning
• increased active community participation
• Collaborative practices continue to be encouraged
• Focus on Changing Attitudes
• Introduction of Longitudinal Research

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Lastly...

• Campaigns need
• Time
• Leadership
• Energy
• Some
• We need to continually address these items above
• There remains much to be done, but to borrow the
  slogan from Kindness Day ...