Kia Haumaru - Personal Safety Education has been teaching self-defence for nearly 40 years. Photo: Unsplash/ Kristina Flour
Funding cuts have put a personal safety and self-defence education programme at risk of closure.
Kia Haumaru - Personal Safety Education (formerly known as the Women's Self Defence Network - Wāhine Toa) has been teaching self-defence for nearly 40 years, running an average of 700 courses to around 17,000 kōtiro and wāhine every year.
But funding through Oranga Tamariki will cease in April, meaning Kia Haumaru will no longer be able to provide the course for free.
In a statement to RNZ, Kia Haumaru said the decision would result in thousands of girls and women missing out on the chance to learn critical safety skills to protect themselves, their friends, and their whānau from harm.
"This funding shortfall places us at serious risk of losing the expertise of our network of over 30 highly trained kaiako and our two specialised office staff members.
"Without secure funding, we cannot guarantee the resources needed to retain their vital skills and knowledge.
"Our kaiako have undergone extensive training in order to understand and meet the unique needs and challenges of the local communities they live and teach in, and the removal of funded education represents a significant loss - not just for Kia Haumaru, but for the safety and well-being of wāhine and kōtiro across the motu."
Oranga Tamariki said in a statement Kia Haumaru's self-defence course was not closely aligned to the core business of Oranga Tamariki - "supporting children in care or those families who have come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki".
"Oranga Tamariki is prioritising its core business including statutory services (youth justice, care and protection, transition services, and family violence sexual violence services) for high-risk young people. We also acknowledge our continuing responsibility to contribute to preventative and community-based work.
"Our changes in funding in the 2024/25 financial year include services that expired or grant funding due to end. Further decisions to discontinue and reduce contracts were aligned to either forecasted under-utilisation, duplication of services and needs of children across the region, and alignment to Oranga Tamariki's core business priorities."
Sue Lytollis teaching a self-defence class to a group of girls in 1988. Photo: Supplied
The programme began in 1979, when Sue Lytollis taught the first class in Christchurch. Lytollis told RNZ it was "a little bit controversial" at the time.
"This was in the day when rape, incest, sexual harassment were very new words. People were afraid to use them."
Lytollis said a significant number of women who did the course when they were younger told her that it had kept them safe.
"How much trauma have these courses stopped? How much money have they saved ACC? Oranga Tamariki? I'm really devastated that this is now being severed because this is a very strong prevention."
In a letter of recommendation, Te Kura Waenga o Tirohanga Monrad acting assistant principal Matt Schmidt said the course was a highly-valued part of the curriculum it delivered to Year 8 wāhine.
"We are located in a low socio-economic neighbourhood with high instances of family trauma and crime, and this can have a huge impact on the confidence and self-worth of our students, in particular our vulnerable girls.
"We have found this program has been outstanding not only in providing the girls with the necessary self-defence tools to protect themselves in situations where physical harm may occur, but also in knowing their self-worth as individuals and boosting confidence and self-esteem in all areas of their lives - school and personal lives included.
"A number of girls and whānau I have spoken to who have now left our kura, still speak highly of how valuable this program was and the positive memories of it, so it would be a huge shame if it were not to continue."
Kia Haumaru does more than teach self-defence - in the last reporting period, 20 percent of its courses in schools resulted in a kaiako registering a disclosure of serious abuse or harm from a young student.
"Quite often, our in-school course is the first opportunity a young person has to talk with a violence prevention expert in a safe and supportive environment. The course content fights against the normalisation and acceptance of abuse, so we receive a very high level of disclosures of abuse from young, school aged course participants."
The Ministry of Social Development commissioned two reports into the effectiveness of self-defence programmes for girls and women as a strategy for protection against violence between 2014 and 2016, in which Professor Jan Jordan and Dr Elaine Mossman of Victoria University of Wellington did an evaluation of the course run by Kia Haumaru.
Jordan told RNZ she found it to be a "really strong, positive programme".
"The way that the programme was delivered was incredibly professional. The teachers were amazingly well-trained. And the way in which they tailored the programme was really designed not to amplify the fears that girls might have about being attacked, but to really build up their self-esteem and their confidence, which actually had spillover effects into all different aspects of their lives as well."
She added the loss of the funding through Oranga Tamariki was "devastating".
"It's one more nail in the coffin for a government that just seems hell-bent on undermining funding to women and girls and is showing and displaying no commitment to their protection. And whose only preoccupation with violence seems to be ram raids and gangs.
"I think now more than ever, with the impact of social media, as well as the high levels of family violence in this country, we really need to be encouraging every way we can how girls can feel good in themselves, feel safe, put down boundaries, understand what it means around the kind of touch that they feel is acceptable and not acceptable, and just grow into strong, capable individuals who can, you know, take their rightful place as equals in a society that still believes women are less than men."
Determined to stay
However, Kia Haumaru said it was determined to continue, and was looking at alternative funding options.
"We're optimistic about the future because of how well our mahi aligns with the goals and approaches of the second Te Aorerekura Action Plan, specifically focus seven, preventing violence before it starts.
"We believe this alignment positions us well to engage with new partners and stakeholders in our ongoing work to secure sustainable funding."
It was also calling on the support of the community.
"Kia Haumaru's impact has been made possible through collective effort, and together we can ensure this important mahi continues. Whether through donations, partnerships, or spreading the word, every contribution helps us to empower more wāhine and kōtiro to stay safe, build confidence, and thrive.
"As we face this wero, we remain steadfast in our vision. Kia Haumaru is defined by resilience, determination, and an unwavering commitment to creating safer, more equitable futures for all.
"With the support of our communities across the motu, we're confident that we'll not only rise to meet this momentary challenge, but emerge stronger than ever."
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