Power of group work inspires Miranda to step into prevention

“Why did it take hitting rock bottom to learn how to keep myself and my family safe?” Men on RISE’s non-violence programme often ask.

“Time and time and time again we hear feedback ‘Why didn’t we learn about this before? Why didn’t we learn these tools when we were in school?’,” facilitator Miranda Warner says.

For most men, particularly those mandated to go to the non-violence course, something “pretty significant” has happened to get them to attend.

“Guys have usually had to get to a certain point, and that point can be pretty devastating for them, their loved ones or random people on the street,” Miranda says. “It’s almost like they have to get to real rock bottom to be given the tools to move up.”

Men learn a lot of new information and tools at RISE but can’t understand why those skills weren’t available to them earlier, Miranda says.

“They might say, for example, ‘That relationship could have worked if I’d known this’. There’s just a real underlining that the non-violence programme works.”

It was feedback about the lack of education around family violence that motivated Miranda to shift from her intervention work to become a community mobiliser at Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded prevention mahi (work).

“No one on the non-violence group wants to hurt anybody. So, I started thinking about what a society would look like where those tools were taught to people before they needed them and were normalised,” she says.

Part of what makes the groups so powerful is the way men connect and learn with their peers.

“Often this is the first time they have ever shared what’s going on in their lives with a group of men. It is a completely new experience for the majority of them.”

Participants learn from other men on the course, as well as the facilitators, and are often inspired by their peers to make positive changes.

“It’s much more powerful when they are learning from each other. When they hear from other guys with similar stuff going on to them it lands differently and has a real impact.

“They are learning to support each other and they do that well. I think, the culture that gets fostered in men’s group, that you can talk about grunty stuff with other guys and that you can listen to and support each other is transformative.”

Miranda says she initially intended to step away from her intervention work once she started at Hikitia! However, she realised if she wanted to continue to understand the drivers for men’s violence in this community, and help prevent harm, it made sense to retain a role as a group facilitator. She is happy she can keep doing this role alongside her Hikitia! work.

We know that connection to community is a protective factor in the prevention of men’s violence – yet many men struggle to form connections outside formal groups they attend. 

Miranda says that she, “had all these ideas how we could connect people from the group into other spaces, and I thought, if I’m not in this group, I won’t be able to collaborate with men who come through the RISE programmes to understand how we can better support them and other men in our communities.”

Miranda Warner says feedback from men on the RISE non-violence programme regarding the lack of education around family violence and life skills such as emotional regulation inspired her to step into the prevention space.

Miranda Warner is drawing on her wide contacts and skills in her role as a Hikitia! community mobiliser. Hikitia! is RISE’s ACC funded primary prevention mahi.

Working in the prevention space

Alongside its established intervention services, RISE has a team working to prevent family violence and sexual violence. In February 2025, Miranda began working in Hikitia! RISE’s ACC prevention team. Miranda says some of her initial work with Hikitia! has been spent meeting with and listening to different community groups and learning how to support them in the family violence and sexual violence prevention spheres.

“This phase is about connecting and exploring and a lot of genuine listening to what’s needed, and supporting in meaningful ways where we can.”

Miranda has a varied background and connections that span churches, health, education and the creative spheres. Alongside her contract with Hikitia! Miranda works at Restorative Justice Nelson as its Business Lead and as a facilitator.

She is drawing on her many contacts and skills in her role at Hikitia! One of her work strands at Hikitia! has led her to exploring how to support faith communities expand their good work around child protection into the family violence sphere. This work is still in its early stages.

Miranda’s background in community education and youth work has seen her re-connecting with people in the youth space such as with Youth Nelson and at Nelson Tasman Youth Workers’ Collective, where she recently presented the initiatives Hikitia! is involved in.

Drama and the creative arts are another of Miranda’s passions. She is a playwright and actor and has enjoyed being able to use her connections and skills in the theatre space in her Hikitia! role.

She recently trained actors in the Sexwise programme. Sexwise delivers an interactive piece of theatre to Aotearoa’s youth about sexuality, consent and healthy relationships, followed by a facilitated workshop, taking its work to schools, community education spaces and youth justice facilities.

Miranda knew of Sexwise from her time as a teacher aide and approached the organisation. The Hikitia! team were then able to work with Sexwise as it developed a new script.

“I had so much fun. I basically turned our healthy relationship module from the work at RISE and Hikitia! into workshops,” she says.

Miranda taught the actors about healthy relationships, the cycle of violence, ghosting, revenge porn and then the Sexwise theatre crew then wove those themes into the play they were creating.

The arts are an important part of the Nelson region and in recognition of that Hikitia! has a number of different arts-related projects it is working on including partnering with the Nelson Arts Festival and an art exhibition themed around parenting relationships.

Other work in the prevention area includes helping plan a series of days for dads and kids, creating spaces for fathers and children to connect.

“It’s quite broad at the moment,” Miranda says of her Hikitia! prevention mahi.  “But that is also because the number of protective factors against family and sexual violence is huge. There’re so many places we can put our energies, but we are also starting from where our connections already are and where community is telling us we need to focus.”