Understanding barriers for Maori and Pacific men to get help from childhood sexual violent experiences

Sexual violence is prevalent across all segments of society here in New Zealand and internationally. It is complex and presents multiple challenges in identifying and addressing it. For Māori and Pacific men who have experienced childhood sexual violence and want to seek help, the problem is even more complex. Barriers such as being perceived as an offender, active sexism, racism and prejudice stop our men coming forward to get the help they rightfully deserve. Given these challenges where do our men go and seek support? This question forms part of my Kaupapa Maori doctoral research. I wanted to understand the effectiveness of creating an e-Health website for Maori men. Over a 12-month period I worked with three key groups to design a blueprint for a website. These groups included: Men who have been sexually violated in childhood, support people such as family and friends and finally community agencies. Results from this research has strongly indicated that a specific website is needed for men and their support people to access. I will be presenting these findings and how they connect to recovery, mental health and addictions and finally decolonization.