An update on Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary prevention mahi

17 Jul

Hikitia! Symposium: Ko koe te ringa e hiki punga | Your arm is the best suited to lift the anchor

Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary prevention mahi held a hugely successful symposium on July 9 in Whakatū (Nelson) with 260 people registered and a waitlist of those wanting to attend.

The day was a professional development and networking event, for those in the Whakatū rohe (region), interested in working together to prevent family violence and sexual violence.

An amazing line up of speakers shared powerful and insightful presentations which reinforced the importance of the mahi (work) those do in the family violence and sexual violence sphere, and of the ongoing need in the sector.

Speakers included The Chief Children's Commissioner, Mana Mokopuna Dr Claire Achmad, She Is Not Your Rehab’s Mataio Brown, Associate Professor, Director of Social Work Programme at Te Whare Wananga o Waitaha / University of Canterbury Dr Yvonne Crichton-Hill, Child Specialist, Fair Way Resolution Suzanne Alliston and RISE’s Hikitia! Manager Dr Nikki Evans.

The day was an invitation for the community to come together and to look collectively to the future.

The sold-out event was also a chance to introduce RISE’s Hikitia! team and share some of their mahi (work) and upcoming initiatives being working on in partnership with the community.

What is Hikitia!

Hikitia! is a community-led initiative funded by ACC as part of Te Aorerekura, the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence. Hikitia! is not a service provider, instead it empowers others to carry out initiatives.

It is an intentional, nation-wide movement focused on the prevention of sexual violence, family violence and child sexual abuse.

In the top of the south Hikitia! will work across Whakatū (Nelson), Te Waiharakeke (Marlborough) and Kaikōura to build connected community-led responses.

RISE’s Hikitia! manager Dr Nikki Evans says her team is working in partnership with communities to learn how it can support their work in the family violence and sexual violence prevention sphere.

Upstanders: The voices of men preventing family violence and sexual violence

Hikitia! invited men working in social services to take part in a focused, respectful conversation with other men in the family violence and sexual violence sector. Hikitia! wanted to hear their voices, insights, and understandings about our communities to help plan initiatives that contribute meaningfully to the prevention of family violence.

Twenty-one men attended on July 10.

Upstanders was a space for men to:

• Reflect on how their roles as men intersect with professional responsibilities
• Share experiences and challenges in working to prevent violence
• Explore ways to support cultural and systemic change—both personally and professionally

Hikitia! will continue to support this kaupapa, with another hui to be held in the coming months, and initiatives being piloted from October.

Co-leading a working group to establish a regional strategy in response to Te Aorerekura, the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence.

Hikitia! is co-leading the development of a community-led regional Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention and Elimination strategy for Te Tauihu (the top of the south).

This strategy will bring all current and future family violence and sexual violence prevention and response initiatives in the rohe (region) into a cohesive whole, ensuring the intent of both Te Aorerekura and the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy are realised and sustained, and the opportunities for preventing harm in our communities are maximised.

Three well-attended hui (meetings) on the strategy have already been held, and there is a strong commitment to continue the working group comprised of community, iwi, violence-experienced, and statutory representatives.

Things we love doing with our whānau - Hikitia! Art Project with Tāmariki from Victory Primary School – June 2025.

In June, RISE’s Hikitia! team spent time with tamariki (children) at Nelson’s Victory Primary School as they drew pictures about things they love to do with whānau and family.

To celebrate these ideas Hikitia! created a display of the artwork for the Matariki Celebration and Lantern Hikoī at the Victory Community Centre, where the community could enjoy the creations.

Some of the children’s artwork was printed onto bags and other items for the Hikitia! Symposium – to continue celebrating and acknowledging the tamarki’s ideas about whānau and their talent. A resource about “things tamariki like to do with whānau” was developed from the conversations and drawing of the tamariki, and that resource is now available to be shared with the wider community. Producing something that comes from the knowledge of tamariki is one way to let them know that their voices are listened to and their ideas are important.

The Hikitia! team is very grateful to Victory Primary School and the Victory Community Centre for the opportunity they have had to work together.

Mānawatia te kura pae o Māhina! Cherish everything you have!

Ordinary Wonders

Ordinary Wonders is a collaborative art initiative with the community and artists in our rohe (region). It invites all ages to share ‘Ordinary Wonders’ or the deeply formative little moments that connect us to important people and places. These are often moments such as planting a garden, baking together or listening to stories – that don’t feel big at the time, but are connections that live on in memories.

We’d love it if you could share a memory that fits our theme of Ordinary Wonders - you might only need a few sentences, or you might want to write a couple of paragraphs. It could be that someone read to you every night, or that they showed up at an event that was important to you, that they told you stories about the places your whānau or family are from, or that they made the best fry bread.

Those that are parents, or who have parent roles, might instead share moments from those experiences – a child’s face lighting up when their grandparents arrive, a messy kitchen making pancakes, muddy gumboots at the farm door, a toddler’s giggles when the family dog licks their sticky hands.

What’s next?

Hikitia! is inviting local amateur and established artists to help us bring each of these memories to life in a piece of art. Each artist will receive one story and create an artwork based on it. These artworks will be shown in a collective exhibition at Refinery ArtSpace in July 2026. Each artwork will be gifted to the person who wrote the Ordinary Wonders story it represents. Share your story by scanning the QR code:

If you would like to participate, please use the QR code, above right, to complete the template. And please share this opportunity with others in our community, especially those we work with.

Activity days for dads and those in fathering roles and their children – from October 2025

Supporting and connecting men is a key protective factor in the prevention of family and sexual violence. It emphasises the important of fostering healthy respectful relationships with whānau (family) and tamariki (children) alongside strengthening men’s sense of connectedness to community and culture.

Hikitia! is planning to run a series of activity days from October 2025 - run over several hours - where men and their tamariki can be together and participate in activities together. Participating in shared activities not only strengthens whānau bonds but also nurtures the holistic well-being (hauora) of everyone involved.

Sexwise programme

Sexwise delivers an interactive piece of theatre to Aotearoa’s youth about sexuality, consent and healthy relationships, and takes the work to schools, community education spaces and youth justice facilities around the country.

A member of the Hikitia! team worked with actors and creatives behind the Sexwise programme. They worked with Sexwise as it developed a new script and helped teach the actors about healthy relationships, the cycle of violence, ghosting, revenge porn. The Sexwise theatre crew then wove those themes into the play they were creating to tour at educational facilities.

Hikitia! also led a session at Sexwise’s request, on working in intimating spaces – to support actors working in places such as youth justice facilities.