Mental healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand is at a crossroads, and Le Va is calling attention to the urgent need for change, with a focus on mental ill-health prevention and mental wellbeing promotion alongside early intervention and recovery support.
In spite of increased government investment and better access to support over the last few decades, more people than ever are experiencing mental health challenges, with high rates of suicide, addiction and mental illness.
Dr Stephen Carbone has a passion for promoting people’s mental wellbeing. The founder and former CEO of Prevention United in Australia visited Pasifika-led organisation Le Va in March to speak about the important role primary prevention has in mental health policy.
Senior executives from across the social and healthcare sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand attended an in-person hui and online webinar, to learn more about what primary prevention is and how it can be a crucial complement to existing mental healthcare services.
Dr Carbone spoke about the effectiveness of mental wellbeing promotion and prevention of mental health conditions as a two-pronged tactic to help reduce the number of people who develop depression, anxiety or substance use conditions.
He said, “Mental health conditions are distressing, potentially disabling and contribute to death by suicide. While efforts to provide better treatments and services are important, there is more that we can do.”
Dr Carbone explained that while effective treatments are now more widely available and used, the number of people affected by conditions like depression and anxiety continues to rise in both Australia and New Zealand.
Ultimately, supporting people’s mental wellbeing and preventing the onset of mental health conditions at a population health level, would likely lead to less pressure on an already over-burdened mental healthcare system in Aotearoa.
Le Va chief executive, Denise Kingi-‘Ulu’ave, said of Dr Carbone’s visit, “We are grateful to Stephen for generously sharing his expertise in the field of primary prevention, an approach that underpins almost everything we do at Le Va.
“We want to keep this conversation going with the leaders of our healthcare systems, so we can develop a shared collective approach to primary prevention to benefit the people we serve.”
Adopting a primary prevention approach for mental health means not waiting until people are unwell before taking action, as is already common for physical health conditions like diabetes or heart disease.
At Le Va we believe this is the way forward for the prevention of serious issues such as mental illness, sexual violence, addiction and suicide.
Le Va’s Atu-Mai violence prevention team was excited to launch Le Va’s first podcast this March, with an initial series focusing on sexual violence prevention.
Offering fresh dynamic conversations with carefully selected guests, the Atu-Mai programme’s podcast episodes focus on discussions with survivors, advocates and experts who are all working towards ending sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
This first podcast series explores systemic factors that contribute to sexual harm, and emphasises the importance of community and robust systems when it comes to prevention.
It also highlights how understanding risk and protective factors for sexual violence prevention is key.
The first episode features Moeapulu Frances Tagaloa and her husband Timo Tagaloa.
Timo Tagaloa, Moeapulu Frances Tagaloa, Sara Vui-Talitu, Paul Tupou-Vea
Frances is a survivor of child sexual abuse in a faith care organisation and her talanoa during the podcast, with her husband in support, is emotional, honest and courageous.
“Just years navigating life and trauma, dealing with life and how do I deal with trusting people. If I’d never been abused, I might have developed into someone quite different,” says Frances.
“It’s a loss I feel quite closely. A loss of a childhood, a loss of happiness and joy that could have been there. The impact of abuse is for a lifetime.”
For a long time, Frances was reluctant to share her story, but the Abuse in Care Commission of Inquiry changed all of that.
“When abuse happens, that vā needs to be put right and for me part of that is speaking up for survivors and part of it for me is wanting to obtain an apology.”
Frances is also keen to have a better system of redress when people are harmed and says this government can do a lot more to bring about change.
Episode two of the podcast, which will be released soon, sees the team interview two church ministers about child sexual abuse prevention in the context of faith and following God.
Taitu’uga Mirofora Mataafa-Komiti, Sonia Pope, Rev. Ikifili Pope, Rev. Uesifili Unasa
One minister is our Le Va matua and board member, Reverend Uesifili Unasa, who says many Pacific people have been brought up in a system where there is a hierarchy and an authority that are important.
“You listen to those above us and so, when our children are put in a place where they have a low status, the authority system means that they have no voice, they have no say, no position as it were to challenge the way things are, to answer back to something they know is wrong, because our system trains us in our hierarchical cultural ways [that] authority is really important and sacrosanct,” he says.
The Le Va podcast aims to talk about tough topics like violence prevention while ensuring our listeners are kept informed, that what they are hearing is clinically safe, and to help equip people with tools to support them.
This Atu-Mai series of the Le Va podcast was produced as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the stigma, silence and shame by having open and honest discussions about sexual violence.
Listen to the Le Va podcast on Spotify or YouTube.
Le Va’s Atu-Mai team was fortunate to have a professional development session with violence prevention expert Prof. Janet Fanslow this month.
Prof. Fanslow is a Professor at the School of Population Health, University of Auckland, and her research focuses on the prevention, prevalence and consequences of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.
She said she had heard positive things about Le Va and its community mobilisation focused Atu-Mai programme that is part of a much wider system of change for violence prevention work.
Taituuga Mirofora Mataafa-Komiti, primary prevention manager for Atu-Mai, found Janet’s presentation insightful.
“I appreciated the different frameworks Prof. Fanslow presented, as well as the global initiatives she highlighted, which broadened my perspective on violence prevention,” she said.
“I especially liked how she challenged us to ask critical questions, offering an opportunity for individuals to reflect on their own experiences and the wider impact of violence.”
Prof. Janet Fanslow
Prof. Fanslow considers a range of risk and protective factors in her research, including economic, physical and emotional abuse that can be contributing factors to violence.
She travels the globe representing Aotearoa at international conferences, and led the 2003 and 2019 New Zealand Violence Against Women Surveys.
Her work has also received funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
Learn more about Le Va’s violence prevention work.
Le Va is breaking the silence surrounding child sexual abuse (CSA) with new resources to help community upstanders prevent sexual violence in Pasifika communities.
The series of online resources, developed by Le Va’s Atu-Mai violence prevention team, will cover topics such as Pasifika Values, Talanoa to Protect, Protecting our Pasifika Children, Knowing Who is in Your Village, and Be Courageous and Act.
Dr Elizabeth Mati, Le Va’s general manager who is also a clinical psychologist, and Atu-Mai primary prevention manager, Taituuga Mataafa-Komiti, spearheaded a year-long community engagement initiative to explore how we can help prevent CSA within Pasifika communities in Aotearoa.
Dr Elizabeth Mati presenting at the 2024 TOAH-NNEST sexual violence conference
“We need to stop the silence and start talking about child sexual abuse to protect our children. These resources are the first step in our journey towards supporting our families and communities to address child sexual abuse,” Dr Mati said.
“We know these resources will help Pasifika parents in particular to stay vigilant and learn to identify the signs of potential harm to our children.”
For many Pasifika people, topics related to sex or sexual harm are viewed as too taboo to discuss openly. Le Va’s co-development of resources forms part of ongoing efforts to help Pasifika communities identify and stop child sexual abuse.
“Sexual violence is an uncomfortable topic, but it has significant, ongoing impacts on our communities,” said Paul Tupou-Vea, senior manager – violence prevention for the Atu-Mai programme.
“There aren’t enough Pacific-specific resources, so we hope these resources help our communities in a culturally sensitive way.”
The collaborative effort brought together representatives from various sectors and Pasifika community groups, including faith leaders, educators, parents, subject matter experts, youth and members of the Rainbow and disability communities.
All of their insights and contributions helped to shape the development of educational resources for parents and caregivers.
Le Va released the first of these resources in November to coincide with Dr Mati’s presentation – ‘Nurturing our Children: Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in Pasifika Communities: Insights from the Atu-Mai programme’ – at the 2024 TOAH-NNEST National Sexual Violence Conference in Christchurch.
Learn more about our Nurturing our children resources.
Te Tāmata Tipu – TOAH-NNEST conference
At the end of October, Le Va held a traditional Samoan ‘ava ceremony to warmly welcome 16 visiting professionals and young people working in violence prevention initiatives in Wales.
The Welsh delegation represented Plan International UK, Her Voice Wales, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Greenhill School, Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembrokeshire Youth.
The delegates came to learn about the work being done in the violence prevention sector here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Their visit came about after She Is Not Your Rehab founder, Matt Brown, visited Wales last year.
Dr Elizabeth Mati, Le Va’s general manager, shared about Atu-Mai’s spearhead nationwide violence prevention programme with its focus on Pasifika youth and their families.
Le Va senior manager Paul Tupou-Vea spoke about Atu-Mai’s current community mobilisation approach to sexual violence prevention.
“It was great to share insights about our important work and hear from our visitors. The group are doing some amazing work in Wales, and it was really encouraging to see how involved young people are,” he said.
Youth delegates from Greenhill School felt moved by the conversations and the safe environment created.
One student said, “The group had an incredible day with a really moving emotive day. Thank you, Le Va, for sharing space with us and we look forward to working with you in the future.”
With the support of ACC, Le Va’s Atu-Mai team was glad to share space to enable the exchange of knowledge and insights into violence prevention work with each group’s respective communities.
For Le Va’s learning and evaluation lead, Hidoria Onesemo-Tuilaepa, the visit was uplifting.
“I left our engagement with the Welsh delegates feeling inspired by the various initiatives and projects they are facilitating, especially by the youth! Also inspiring how the Welsh Government has invested in the prioritisation of primary prevention,” she said.
Le Va community engagement lead, Charles Lavea, said it was a prime opportunity to learn.
“It allowed me to connect with people from the other side of the world who share a deep passion for advocacy and community support in violence prevention. I am grateful for the opportunity to share knowledge and experience working in the prevention space.”
ACC’s Dr Hala Nasr reflected that the experience allowed her to learn professionally and fill her cup personally. She added that Charles’ conversation with the group about Atu-Mai’s Father’s Fono programme resonated strongly.
“(Charles) made such an impact on the two young men in the group – the mana and compassion you showed in the small interactions you had with them were so appreciated,” she said.
Wales Programme and Advocacy Manager, Anne-Marie Lawrence, said the group loved their time at Le Va.
“We did a reflection session with the young people before they left to fly home and some of them said the meeting with you was the highlight of the trip. I don’t think accolades come much higher than that,” she said.
“We learnt so much from you and we really enjoyed our time with you, the memories created from such a special day will stay with us for a lifetime. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
This month, Le Va’s Atu-Mai violence prevention team led four days of intense and rewarding training and workshop sessions to share knowledge about the causes of sexual harm in our communities and how we can work together collectively to prevent it.
“We’ve been moving through different stages of Le Va’s own community mobilisation framework. It has been powerful work, getting to know who is on the vaka with us and building the tools skills and knowledge to prevent sexual violence in our communities,” says senior manager Paul Tupou-Vea.
“We’re fortunate to be joined by so many capable and enthusiastic community leaders as Upstanders who will mobilise prevention initiatives in their communities”, Paul says of the 12 Atu-Mai Upstanders.
One of our Upstanders keen to make a difference is Fale Pasifika Women’s Refuge Sharee Sauni-Kennach, who says learning about the cultural aspects and cultural considerations during the training has been a huge help.
“It is hard for us to open up especially around sexual violence,” she says. “If we can prevent things from happening now, we are creating a safe space for others to grow up in.”
Each of our training sessions sparked some profound and poignant talanoa among the attendees about the realities of sexual violence and child sexual abuse out in the community and learning about the things we can do and say to help prevent it.
One participant highlighted ‘the power of language noting you can break or make trust based on the language you use,’ while another spoke about ‘learning to sit with discomfort.’
Josh Macfarlane of Man Alive attended the men’s group training and noted that there’s no other sexual violence primary prevention training out there, that carefully considers culture as well as best practise.
Atu-Mai men’s group
One of our Tongan female participants asked, ‘what does equality really look like in a Pasifika context?’ and “can we address sexual violence without addressing traditional cultural dynamics?”, which resulted in a memorable talanoa about cultural norms, gender, and power structures.
Another trainee said ‘I really liked the integration of cultural approaches to conducting our work. Approaches like talanoa using our Pacific values of alofa, and respect is needed to support our clients and students,’ while another mentioned how ‘this training has given me a lot of insights on how I can weave this into my practice in supporting women and their families. (I’m) Looking forward to more trainings by Atu-Mai on how to prevent sexual violence.’
Atu-Mai’s efforts for sexual violence prevention are continuing to build a community that is informed, empowered and collaborative in efforts against sexual violence. Following the training, Atu-Mai will be supporting their Upstanders to develop and deliver initiatives to promote protective factors in communities.
This month, our Atu-Mai violence prevention senior manager, Paul Tupou-Vea, was invited to the University of Auckland to share knowledge about our work as a guest lecturer for second year Bachelor of Health Science students.
It was an opportunity to link theory to practice, sharing about real-world applications of the social and health sciences
“Despite the early start, students seemed really engaged,” he says. “It was an opportunity to link theory to practice, sharing about real-world applications of the social and health sciences,” he says.
His lecture for the Mental Health Development course was entitled Violence Prevention – Le Va’s response to a community and societal issue.
These students have been learning about the role of theory in designing mental health promotion programmes.
Having Paul come in and demonstrate how that theory can be translated into practice whilst remaining responsive to community-specific needs and aspirations was invaluable.
University of Auckland’s Melissa Reid-Ellis says she found the lecture very inspiring.
“I think we too often focus on responding to violence and other major health issues, when we should be trying to prevent them from occurring in the first place,” she says.
“It’s great to see that we have organisations such as Le Va doing this important mahi for the people of Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa more broadly.”
Atu-Mai is utilising a community mobilisation approach to prevent sexual violence in our communities.
The programme also connects with others in the sector to support workforce development efforts and sharing our knowledge with the sector and across the community is an important way to learn, connect and empower as many parts of the system as possible.
“Sexual violence and its risk factors are complex, so it’s important we are standing together with sector partners and community leaders,” Paul says.
The invitation to guest-lecture came from long-time supporter and advocate, Professor Janet Fanslow, who is a population health scientist specialising in violence prevention and the promotion of mental health.
The Samoan proverb ‘O le tele o sulu e maua ai figota’ – collaboration overcomes challenges – captures the essence of Atu-Mai’s work with community mobilisers.
Le Va’s Atu-Mai community engagement leads, Taeao Napo and Charles Lavea, have been meeting individually with these leaders, each passionate about making a difference.
“Different communities need different strategies; there’s no one-size-fits-all solution,” said Taeao.
Charles added, “Meeting with like-minded leaders reassures us that we’re on the right path. It’s encouraging to see others with a heart for sexual violence prevention.”
He spoke of one mobiliser who shared how sexual violence is still prevalent and a reality but, as a community, we don’t shed light on it. Feedback like this reinforces the Atu-Mai team’s commitment to addressing these issues head on.
Atu-Mai aims to create a ripple effect of positive change by equipping community leaders with the necessary skills and knowledge.
The goal is to build a network of support where positive role models share their stories, important knowledge is passed on and open, honest communication is encouraged.
This fosters a culture of care, respect, and responsibility, aligning perfectly with the meaning of Atu-Mai’s name: love given, love received.
Taeao Napo
Le Va’s Atu-Mai violence prevention team hosted a Community Mobilisation Fono in a bid to strengthen collective efforts towards stopping sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
The fono (meeting), held in Manukau on 26 June, had ‘Boarding the Vaka’ as its theme, indicating a unified call for community champions to mobilise against sexual violence in our communities.
Le Va chief executive, Denise Kingi-’Ulu’ave, thanked everyone for their dedication and commitment towards building safer communities. “We’re about equipping communities with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to manage and identify when people are in distress in our communities and families, and to support our workforce.”
Te Puna Aonui chief advisor, Liz Tanielu, praised Le Va’s violence prevention work and the engagement of the community representatives who attended. “Shout out to Le Va, loving their leadership and driving this work programme,” she said. “And the communities – am loving seeing the energy, the different people and the different hats they’re bringing to the space.”
Dr Elizabeth Mati, Le Va General Manager, said when taking a Pasifika values-based lens to the issue, it is clear that violence is not our culture. “Le Va developed the Atu-Mai national violence prevention programme right back in 2018 to equip Pacific young people, families and communities with the knowledge and tools to live violence free,” she said.
Business owner, Anthony Agelu, said he felt humbled and privileged to be involved. “I’m encouraged by the programme and possibly becoming one of the leaders in my community that can help move the initiative forward to hopefully help our people to get above this issue.”
Paul Tupou-Vea, in his role as Le Va’s senior manager for violence prevention, shared the Atu-Mai team’s new work programme and included new insights from a needs analysis looking at increased risk factors for victimisation and unique Pasifika protective factors to prevent child sexual abuse.
Le Va Youth Advisory Group member, Pelea Fruean, said the topic is so important for our community. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that are in the dark and suffering from it,” she said. “So, I think it’s important that we should shine some light on them, and I think that it’s good we spread awareness and education as well as creating a safety net for them, and for our people to follow too.”
Nahed Alhaj from the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation agreed the topic is important to communities. “Any kind of abuse or violence, it’s a cycle. So, if we didn’t break it now, it [would] keep going and going like a big snowball. So, it’s important to talk about it now [and] start preventing.”
Reverend Uesifili Unasa said, while it is not easy to talk about sexual violence and child sexual abuse, it is important we do. “It’s a sensitive issue, it’s a difficult issue, it’s a personal issue but we have to engage with these issues questions and challenges with integrity with care and respect,” he said. “Not just for ourselves – but for the people around us, and the community to which we belong.”
There was a strong call to action asking the government to pour more investment into rehabilitating people who harm at this year’s Te Pūtake 2024 National Family Violence Conference.
The call is for this to sit alongside Te Aorerekura, the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence, which is a 25-year strategy to drive government action by harnessing public support and community groups too.
The Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence of New Zealand, Karen Chhour, officially launched the event and the keynote speakers came from the United States of America.
The Family Peace Initiative’s Dorthy Stucky Halley and Steve Halley shared about the need to understand the different motives of those who perpetrate family violence and the connection to risk and lethality.
More than 400 delegates travelled to Wellington on 29-30 May for the conference organised by Te Kupenga Whakaiti Mahi Patunga, the National Network of Family Violence Services.
There were plenty of opportunities to network, learn about the sector, and consider best practice. Over two days, there were 94 presenters delivering 41 concurrent session papers.
Participants came from overseas and all over the motu, including from universities, community groups, government and not-for-profit organisations.
Sessions covered a variety of topics across the sector, including culture and faith, working with tāne Maori, mana wāhine research, survival based lived experiences, children and young people, workforce development, leadership and change.
While the overarching theme of the conference revolved around family violence, the topics of sexual violence prevention and child sexual abuse prevention were also discussed.
Among the attendees were representatives from Le Va’s Atu-Mai team – Sara Vui-Talitu and Charles Lavea – who attended diverse workshops and sessions to exchange ideas, hear about life experiences, network and gain research insights.
Atu-Mai Community Engagement Lead, Charles Lavea, said it was well worth going and hopefully next time, Le Va can present some of its findings, especially with our work on child sexual abuse.
“I really enjoyed connecting with community and sharing tools and knowledge on how we can better serve our people,” he said.
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