Male Survivors Tairawhiti

MS Tairawhiti

How Dilworth School could start to atone for its dark past

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OPINION: Never look a gift horse in the mouth. That’s the first phrase that sprang to mind when Dilworth School announced plans to compensate former students who were sexually abused by its teachers, over many decades.

But Dilworth’s offer of money (details of which are yet to be released) is not a gift, of course. It would be fundamentally wrong to consider it a gift. Those whose school years, and often their adulthoods, were blighted might properly consider it a right – or if not that, then certainly the very least the school can and should do.

The Dilworth survivors have walked a long, long road to this point. It’s three years since the school was warned by an old boy that a storm of allegations would soon be upon it; two years since the school first apologised for the actions of its former staff members.

Vulnerable boys who were harmed by Ian Wilson, Ross Browne, Graham Lindsay and others, have told their stories to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, and to the school, and to courts, and to journalists. Their bravery has been outstanding and god knows (I use the term deliberately) they deserve whatever the school, or society, can give them.

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Catholic church calls in Vatican to investigate sexting priest case

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The head of the New Zealand Catholic church has asked the Vatican for permission to launch an investigation into the handling of complaints about a priest who groomed a teenage girl.

Sateki Raass resigned from the priesthood after he was convicted in 2019 of indecent communication with a girl under 16 and ordered to serve 100 hours community service.

A series of stories by Stuff has since unravelled the Auckland diocese’s handling of the case. This includes bishop Patrick Dunn’s original plans – all later reversed – not to tell school communities attached to Raass’ parish, to allow Raass to say mass after his arrest, and to bail him to a presbytery attached to another primary school despite bail conditions prohibiting contact with under-16s.

Dunn also told parishioners Raass’ offending was merely “inappropriate text messaging”, paid for a QC to represent Raass, and has not directly apologised to the victim’s family.

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ACC to spend $44.9 million on sexual violence prevention

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ACC is spending nearly 45 million dollars on a bid to prevent sexual violence, including $11.7 million for kaupapa Māori approaches.

Over the next four years it aimed to tackle the underlying causes of sexual violence and to do work on changing attitudes and behaviours.

The agency would work on the problem alongside other government agencies, specialist services, providers, iwi and communities.

ACC minister Carmel Sepuloni said Aotearoa-New Zealand had unacceptable rates of sexual violence.

Almost a quarter of adults had experienced sexual violence, one of the highest rates for countries in the OECD.

And minister Sepuloni said about 16 percent of people are affected by sexual violence before they turn 18 years old.

These high rates cannot continue, we need to put in place systems that protect our whānau and our future generations.

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Catholic church knew of previous complaint against teen-grooming priest

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A priest convicted of grooming a teenage girl to send him nude photos was the subject of a previous complaint that was covered up by the Tongan Catholic Church.

The victim’s aunt and an abuse survivors’ group said it showed the church should have prevented Sosefo Sateki Raass’ offending.

The Tongan church gave Raass a good character reference before he moved to Auckland, where he was convicted in 2019 of indecent communication with a person under 16 and subsequently quit the priesthood.

But a complaint had been lodged about Raass in 2006, and the head of the Tongan church, Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, admitted there were repeated rumours about Raass’ behaviour.

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Laptop with thousands of child exploitation images found on rubbish dump

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Thousands of child exploitation images, including images of children as young as two being raped and tortured, were found on a laptop computer discarded at an apartment rubbish dump.

The computer was found by a member of the public at a central Christchurch address, who briefly checked it and saw what appeared to be images of naked underage boys.

When police did a full forensic examination, they found 3266 files, including dozens that were in the worst category of exploitation images.

Police determined the laptop belonged to Jasper James Gallacher​ Force, 30, who lived at the apartment complex where it was dumped.

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NZ, Canada join forces in fight against online child sexual abuse material

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A web-crawling software will be used in New Zealand with the aim of detecting and removing child sex abuse material.

The New Zealand Classification Office has joined a one-year pilot in collaboration with Canada’s Project Arachnid, which searches for and identifies child sex abuse material online.

Chief Censor David Shanks said the worldwide scope of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection‘s project meant New Zealanders could benefit from increased data and reporting on the material while contributing to a leading global initiative.

Project Arachnid uses web-crawling software which systematically browses the internet to detect child sexual abuse images and videos on both the open and dark web. It then issues takedown notices to hosting providers.

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From The Chairmans Desk – September 2021

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Philip Chapman, Chair

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty

Mother Teresa

Kia ora koutou,

As we hopefully approach the end of another Covid-19 lockdown we reflect on what has been a challenging year for all New Zealanders, but perhaps especially for those who are coping with trauma-related challenges in their life. In a Covid-restricted environment we recognise that life can be particularly challenging for people who have experienced, or continue to experience, emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual violence, many of whom are also impacted by illness, disabilities and/or socioeconomic disadvantage.

I am grateful to the people in our regional service centres who have continued to find ways to support our male survivor community through these difficult times. Knowing that together we have made life better for more than 3,000 New Zealanders, that we continue to make a difference, is what makes us all proud of, and committed to, the work we do every day.

I am encouraged by our new ventures in Te Tai Tokerau and Manukau where we are pursuing new models of engagement with our Māori and Pasifika survivors, mahi that is made possible and energised by the enthusiastic support of the local communities.

We continue to develop our regional capacity and capability as we extend the reach of our peer support services across Aotearoa. And as our national organisation matures, we can look to grow the range of services we offer and be better equipped to “enable the wellbeing of our male survivor community”.

We have made great progress in the eight years since we launched our national strategy. But there is still much to be achieved – onwards

Noho ora mai

Philip

Service Development

Support For Our Homeless Men

After many years of providing advocacy and support for more than 50 homeless men in Nelson, the Male Room now has a purpose-built day-shelter.

Thanks to the support of the Nelson City Council, Nelson’s Rotary clubs, Housing First and many local ‘tradies and NGO’s “Whare Haumanu” (Safe Haven) will now provide these homeless men with cooking, showering, and washing facilities. ‘Visitors’ will also have access to computer and technology support and a range of trauma support services provided by the Male Room.

Whare Haumanu, which will be managed by Jesse Fitzsimmons, will be officially opened in October.

Tama Manuel, with the shovel, helped bury the Mauri stone at the dawn blessing of the site for Whare Haumanu. Others present were Loaves and Fishes coordinator Alison Mountfort, left, Housing First’s Jaap Noteboom, Male Room director Phillip Chapman with manager Louis Chapman and board member Phil Ivamy, and Department of Internal Affairs community advisor Blair Carpenter

Regional Networks

Establishing a sustainable national network of appropriate highquality support services for male survivors of sexual violence.

MSA’s Ambition for the Future

MSA operates as a federation of member organisations. Our role is to provide national advocacy, policy and protocol advice and strategic development support for our member organisations who operate a network of service centres across Aotearoa. Since 2014 we have been focussed on expanding our services to ensure all male survivors could access appropriate services within their region.

2021 has been a busy and exciting period for Male Survivors Aotearoa (MSA) with the establishment of four new service centres in Te Tai Tokerau, Taranaki, Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay and the extension of our Nelson (Male Room) service across Marlborough and into the West Coast.

When Hawkes Bay becomes fully operational towards the end of the year, we will have 10 service centres supporting 3,000 male survivors across Aotearoa, an achievement that we will celebrate at our upcoming National Hui in Nelson this November (Covid-permitting)

Male Survivors Te Tai Tokerau

The development of our support services across Te Tai Tokerau in Northland is our most recent adventure. I use the word ‘adventure’ advisedly as we are on an exciting learning journey in the Far North, working with local Iwi to establish a service that meets the expectations of local Iwi and aligns with our national Kia Mārire strategy – effectiveness with Māori.

In July 2020 we launched Male Survivors Te Tai Tokerau and in August we established our Kerikeri service centre, Male Support Services Kerikeri which is now managed by Paul Moffat.

Later this year we will open our second service centre – Male Survivors Muriwhenua – based in Kaitaia, which will be managed by Bert Henry (left) and will offer a service led by Māori that will welcome all male survivors and their whanau.

Both service centres will work collaboratively across the region, enabled and supported by the Trustees of Male Survivors Te Tai Tokerau, and with each service guided by a special Committee or Roopu of Trustees and other supporters. Watch this space!

Male Survivors Tairawhiti

Tairawhiti welcomes a new support service for their male survivor community. A joint initiative of MSA and the Tauawhi Trust, the service was officially launched in Gisborne in July

2020. Winton Ropiha (Ngāti Kahungunu/Te Whānau ā Kai) is a former Tauawhi Men’s Centre counsellor and will lead the Tairawhiti service.

Winton will be ably supported in his new role by Tim Marshall and the Trustees of the Tauawhi Charitable Trust.

Tim and Wilson in Gisborne – Jan Logie at the Launch

Male Survivors Taranaki

Mike Subritzky opens the doors of his new service centre in New Plymouth.

Based in Merrilands, Ngamotu, the centre will provide support services to male survivors across the Taranaki.

Mike, who comes from an Army chaplaincy background, is a qualified counsellor and is supported by a local Board of Trustees Since opening in August 2020, the centre is already working with more that 30 men from across the Taranaki, hosting regular support group meeting, and looking to recruit another peer worker to expand its services across the province.

The Taranaki centre works with Male Support Services Waikato to provide an important induction support service for new peer workers from other MSA member organisations. Mike has hosted Bert Henry and Paul Moffat from Te Tai Tokerau and will soon host new peer workers from our Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay centres.

Male Support Services Waikato

Mike Holloway has expanded his Hamilton-based operation in response to an increasing demand for male survivor support services across the Waikato. Male Support Services Waikato (MSSW) now operates from two facilities in Ruakura and Frankton offering peer support, counselling, and social work services to more than 600 active clients.

The Ruakura centre has 9 counselling rooms, including one for Family/whanua and children, a group meeting room with a separate entrance, a large kitchen-diner, a library and 3 staff offices. Facilities at Frankton include 4 counselling rooms and a group meeting room, access to a commercial kitchen and a community hall that operates as a food bank during the day.

Centre staffing now includes 5 full time peer workers, one of whom operates as a remote rural peer worker, a substantial group of counsellors who provide ACC counselling services and 3 administrators.

Next steps for MSSW include the development of a kaupapa Māori service, expanding their peer group work and increasing their support work within the three local prisons.

And perhaps the building of a new, MSSW-owned, purpose-built facility to underpin future growth – feasibility in progress.

Service Development

Our Man In Manukau

Poutoa Papali’i joined Better Blokes (Auckland) in 2020, bringing both his Pasifika and Maori connections to support the establishment of a new service In Manukau.

Born in Samoa, Poutoa has lived in Otara ever since his migrant parents moved there in the early 60`s and is now a proud (great) grandad with 8 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. He is graduate of Auckland University (B. Arts) and, following a career in the public and private sectors, he began working with community service organisation in 2010. In 2016 he developed his own program, working with men on violence intervention and anger management.

Now he works with the male survivor community in Manukau, where he brings a wealth of cultural knowledge and connections to build an effective service for the local community.

Service Quality Feedback

All our service centres MMO) are currently implementing a simple survivor feedback questionnaire to help us evaluate the survivor experience of our support services. Early results are encouraging with feedback from three MMO’s showing satisfaction ratings in the range 4.1 – 4.5 on a satisfaction scale where 1.0 is low and 5.0 is high. The format of our current survivor survey can be found here MSA-CLIENT-SERVICE-ASSESSMENT-3.0.

Service Quality Assurance

The federal organisation of Male Survivors Aotearoa is secured by the membership agreements we have with each service centre (Member Organisation – MMO), which require compliance with our national policies. The primary aim of policy compliance is to achieve service quality and consistency across the country. Many of our policies are also aimed at assuring the wellbeing of our people, which is clearly critical to enabling them to improve the wellbeing of the survivors they work with.

Compliance with our national supervision policy is key to assuring that our national workforce is well supported to deal with the many challenges they face in the roles they perform every day. The MSA Board engaged Mike Cagney (MSA Trustee) to conduct our first policy assurance review. I am pleased to report that his engagement with managers, supervisors and MMO chairs, was well-received and will result in substantive improvements in supervision practices across the country and some policy improvements.

Mike is also MSA’s very active voice on TOAH_NNEST (Network Ending Sexual Violence Together) representing all MMO within a coalition of sexual violence sector organisations.

Workforce Development

Governance & Workforce Stats

As part of our Kia Mārire strategy, the quarterly reports of our MMO’s now include breakdown of governance and workforce into Māori and Tauiwi. We were pleasantly surprised by our first report which shows that Māori form 27% of our national governance and 21% of our national staffing.

Intentional Peer Support

We continue to invest in the development of our national peer support capability with another 20 participants completing Intentional Peer Support (IPS) training. Men from 10 service centres attended the 5-day intensives at Oxford in Canterbury and Dawson Falls under Mount Taranaki. The Taranaki course was interrupted on day two by the current Covid-19 lockdown and was completed on ZOOM! A special thanks to our IPS trainers Fiona Clapham-Howard and Rob Gray with course support from Mike Subritzky.

Since launching our education and training program in 2019, MSA have trained more than 70 peer workers including several professionals and collaborators that support our work.

The IPS Team @ Oxford, Canterbury
The Dawson Falls IPS Team on Zoom – final day…a few MIA with technology issues!

Hosting Peer Support Groups

In May we held our first national training session on Hosting Peer Support Groups.

Twelve of our service centre managers and/or senior peer workers participated in a 5-day intensive-residential and pilot version of this new programme, which was developed by our Auckland team at Better Blokes and facilitated by Dave Passal and Dave Puddephat.

The positive feedback received from the facilitators, participants, and our observer (Fiona Clapham-Howard) will guide the further development of the programme, which we plan to host on an annual basis.

The Hosting Peer Support Groups Team @ Bella Rahka Centre in Auckland.

Communications

New Websites

MSA communications has been active facilitating the development of websites for our new MMO’s in Te Tai Tokerau, Taranaki, and Tairawhiti. A special thanks to Cy Messenger (right), who is also a Trustee of Male Survivors Bay of Plenty, and the team at Responsive for their web development work and ongoing technical support for these service centres, including our Otago and Bay of Plenty MMO’s, and the current revamping of the Male Room (Nelson/WestCoast) website. Check out these new websites:

Preview Our New Posters (not for release yet)

We have prepared some new A2 (very large) posters that are intended to support the launch of our Bristlecone exhibition – an exhibition of male survivors and their stories collected by the Bristlecone Project. (BRISTLECONE) This project has been delayed due to Covid-19 impacts and is unlikely to be launched until next year. A simple, powerful message…our grateful thanks to the survivors who agreed to be part of this campaign.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY THESE IMAGES…They are entrusted to MSA by the survivors pictured for use with the MSA Bristlecone campaign

On behalf of my fellow trustees,
Noho ora mai

Philip Chapman
Chair
Ngā mihi o te wā me te Tau Hou

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Tairawhiti stories for Tairawhiti tane

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RESEARCHERS say there is a need for a national website where male survivors of sexual abuse, their whanau and friends can tap into information, services and self-help resources . . . and that is where Male Survivors Aotearoa can help.

The need was noted in the Ministry of Social Development-commissioned 2019 report, What Is Known About Effective Recovery Services For Men Who Have Been Sexually Abused? An Evidence Review.

And the researchers also noted the importance of both regional and culturally-appropriate services, which is why Te Hokai: Male Survivors Tairawhiti has boosted its own site with content relevant to te tane Tairawhiti.

As well as making sure whanau know how to find Te Hokai, the website tells them about the background to the service, and what to expect if they choose to make contact.

Even if they don’t, the website has stories and information they might find useful on their own journeys.

As part of their support for us MSA set up this great website but their intent was always for us to refine it for a local audience, says Tim Marshall, trustee of Te Hokai parent body Tauawhi Trust.

We are mindful that Tairawhiti is a unique place and are determined that our men should know this service is not generic . . . it is especially for them.

That is why we have invested the time in compiling this content, to complement the on-the-ground services of our peer support worker.

– Te Hokai: Male Survivors Tairawhiti
–  Male Survivors Aotearoa website malesurvivor.nz