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Who we are

Who We Are

AVA is a community group focused on taking action against gender-based violence in its various forms. It advocates with law makers, government departments and politicians on behalf of those impacted by physical, psychological, and sexual violence. AVA works to raise public awareness of the impacts of gender-based violence and of the legislative and policy changes required to reduce the harm this causes in Aotearoa New Zealand. Gender-based violence (GBV) is an umbrella term for violence and abuse which is caused and enabled by a system of unequal power between genders. This commonly appears as men using violence against women and children, but also includes violence against gender diverse people and rainbow communities. Underlying this violence at an individual level, is the person feeling entitled and justified to use violence based on deep-seated traditional views of gender.

Our Values

Our Values

· Recognise and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi
· Intersectional feminism
· Social justice + action
· Inclusivity – gender is not binary, trans women are women.
· Advocacy
· Equity/Ōritetanga (equitable approach + access to safety
· Respect+Compassion
· Self-determination/autonomy
· Partnership + whanaungatanga.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is an umbrella term for violence and abuse which is caused and enabled by a system of unequal power between genders.

This commonly appears as men using violence against women and children, but also includes violence against gender diverse people and Rainbow communities. Underlying this violence at an individual level, is the person feeling entitled and justified to use violence based on de

Our Purpose

The primary purpose of AVA is to take action against gender-based violence in all its forms and we do this through three workstreams. 1. Awareness – raising public awareness of issues of violence in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2. Action and advocacy – advocating for and taking action towards legislative change. 3. Information – providing information and resources to the public. Our first campaign is for an amendment to the Crimes Act outlawing stalking.

Where to Find Support

AVA is solely focused on campaigning against gender-based violence. Here is a list of agencies that provide support for women.

Get Help

The key drivers of GBV in Aotearoa New Zealand are gender inequity, normative expectations of femininity and masculinity, and prejudiced gender stereotypes that have their origins in the British system of patriarchy going back hundreds of years. This patriarchal system was forced on Māori by colonisation. Hence, for wāhine Māori, colonisation and its ongoing impacts are the key drivers of GBV. This helps to explain why wāhine Māori experience GBV at a greater rate than non-Māori, and why Indigenous people experience high rates of GBV in all colonised countries. Historically, the British legal system considered women and children to be the property of their husband or father, and women could not own land or vote. The family sphere was considered private and under the control of the husband/father as the head of the household. Child-rearing was seen as ‘women’s work’ and men were not involved. Generally, men were seen as superior to women and entitled to hold power over women. Colonisers introduced these laws and norms to Aotearoa. Colonisation—the forcible establishment of foreign Pākehā control—built a legal and cultural context that was primed for GBV. The colonial government took land from Māori and launched war on Māori who tried to hold on to their land. Māori have strongly resisted colonisation in many ways since Pākehā arrived in Aotearoa. New Zealand’s well-documented (and continuing) history of government harassment and neglect of Māori over generations (Pihama et al, 2019) has caused deprivation, intergenerational violence and trauma, and enormous discrepancies between Pakeha and Māori in health, educational, social, and other outcomes. Government and government agencies have failed to appropriately support and protect whānau, and have frequently pulled whānau apart, resulting in a deep mistrust of government and social services. While laws have changed significantly since Aotearoa was first colonised, and some of the more blatantly patriarchal beliefs and attitudes have shifted, widely held sexist beliefs and attitudes persist, and men and women continue to be held to different standards in the spheres of work and family by government agencies and society more generally. Sexism and gender inequity continues to underpin men’s violence against women. Another key patriarchal cultural norm that continues to support GBV is the wide acceptance of using violence and intimidation to solve conflict. Patriarchal norms also continue to promote ‘heteronormativity,’ where only heterosexual intimate relationships between cis-gender men and women are seen as normal, and any relationships not fitting this norm are seen as abnormal or unnatural. This helps to explain why the rates of violence against the rainbow community are higher than those for the general population in Aotearoa New Zealand. Finally, while gender inequity and sexism can be seen to benefit men, it is important to understand that patriarchal norms can also be enormously harmful for many men by not allowing them the freedom to be and behave in ways that do not fit with norms of masculinity.

Learn more

Women who experience GBV want to be safe and want the violence to stop. Our justice system has a poor track record of stopping violent behaviour and rehabilitating men who use violence. In addition, mass incarceration of Māori continues to be used as a tool of on-going colonisation. Every part of our justice system has a fundamentally racist track record: arresting, prosecuting, convicting, and incarcerating Māori at vastly higher rates than non-Māori. AVA believes that Aotearoa New Zealand must change how our justice system responds to GBV so that the response addresses the causes of GBV, provides safety for those who experience it, and provides accountability and support to stop using violence for those who inflict GBV. This must occur in two ways. First, this needs to happen by supporting Māori-led innovation through devolved resourcing and decision-making to address the causes of GBV in Māori communities that stem from colonisation and its ongoing impacts. Second, for Tauiwi, our justice system must make GBV visible and respond in ways that provide safety for people who experience it and accountability for those that inflict it. Accountability must include a focus on rehabilitation that explicitly addresses beliefs and attitudes that support gender inequality and GBV. This response must provide mental health treatment for people who inflict GBV where needed, while not colluding with attempts to avoid taking responsibility for intentional use of violence to control and cause fear. We support sentencing that avoids prison where practical, involves rehabilitation, and keeps people safe.

Contact Us

Auckland, New Zealand

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