The "it's not OK" campaign against family violence has been hugely successful, leading to an increase in reporting and intervention. So naturally, the government is stopping it from June next year. Instead, they'll be spending the money on a new "Aroha in Action" campaign, targeted solely at Māori. The subtext? Family violence is an exclusively Māori problem, and rich Pakeha like this guy never beat their partners.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has responded to questions about this by saying
Victims are disproportionately Māori. In 2006 nearly 50 percent of hospital admissions because of family violence were Māori. If the victims are disproportionately Māori, should not the solution be, as well?But we're not talking about a "disproportionately Māori" solution here - we're talking about an exclusively Māori one - and one that by Bennett's own admission ignores half of the problem while stigmatising Māori. And that's just not OK.
