The men using Hawke’s Bay Women’s Refuge: Why the vital service isn’t just open to women

Family violence impacts wāhine more than any other demographic, and wāhine Māori even more so.  I am so grateful to see that there is now not only recognition that males can also be primary victims and thank goodness Hastings Women's Refuge have not only recognised this but done something about it.  I am not sure if this is an national initiative, but even if it isn’t it is an enormous step forward.  Of course, our non-binary whānau are also represented as non-female primary victims.  This particular article covers a male victim and his child in the context of heterosexual intimate partner violence (IPV) – please check out the article here -  The men using Hawke’s Bay Women’s Refuge: Why the vital service isn’t just open to women - NZ Herald

Non-female victims do exist in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) but they become even more prevalence in intrafamilial violence (IFV) in context such as Elder Abuse, Child Abuse and Neglect and our Disability and Rainbow Communities.  So the more we talk about, recognise and share this knowledge the more equipped our sector will be to support non-female primary victims, and at the same time offer supports to non-male predominant aggressors.  Surely that has to be a win-win.