Working together to eliminate sexual violence in Aotearoa
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Safe @ Work
Sexual harassment is endemic in many workplaces across Aotearoa. Safe@Work is an affordable and accessible subscription based portal of resources (under development) to help employers and employees prevent sexual violence as well as respond to incidents in a safe, trauma informed, survivor-centred way
Did you know every employer and public place in New Zealand has an obligation under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 and Human Rights Act 1993 to be free of Sexual Harassment and Violence
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Training
Our workshops focus on prevention and being prepared for and responding to incidents of sexual violence. Workshops are designed to compliment and help strengthen existing processes and support within your organisation.
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We appreciate your contribution to help us help others. Learn more about ways to support us.
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Corporate, Not for Profit, Small & Medium Business
Louise Nicholas ONZM is a New Zealand campaigner for the rights of women who have been victims of sexual violence.
She has worked as a survivor advocate for Rape Prevention Education and has served on the Tauiwi Caucus of the Executive Committee of Te Ohaakii a Hine - National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together. In 2015, she was the patron of a class of police recruits at the Royal New Zealand Police College and involved in mentoring and advising the recruits during their training. Her mission is to create a safe place for everyone and support sexual violence survivors.
Girls
Boys
Women
Experience Sexual Violence in Aotearoa
They are your whānau too
#zerotogether
Patrons and Ambassador
Alison (Ali) Mau
Senior journalist at Stuff, and editor of the #metooNZ project, investigating sexual harassment in New Zealand workplaces.
She also writes a weekly current affairs opinion column for Stuff and the Sunday Star-Times. Ali has more than 30 years' experience in television, radio and print journalism in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, and for 20 years was host of a number of national news and current affairs programmes for TVNZ.
Sir Jerry Mateparae
Former New Zealand soldier who served as the 20th Governor-General of New Zealand between 2011 and 2016.
A former officer in the New Zealand Army, he was Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force from 2006 to 2011, and then served as the director of the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau for five months in 2011. Following his term as Governor-General, he was the High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2020.
Thomasin McKenzie, (Ambassador)
Thomasin was 13 when she landed her first major screen role in the 2014 telefeature, “Consent”. In 2018, she was praised for her role in the American film “Leave No Trace”, playing a teen living in a forest with her father. Named a "rising young star" that year by The Hollywood Reporter, McKenzie went on to win acclaim for Jojo Rabbit.
Our Board
Sarah Stevenson, Chair
Sarah brings extensive executive leadership and governance experience including as an Assistant Auditor-General and on the Board of the Resource Management Law Association. A survivor of sexual violence from age seven, Sarah is determined to effect change and brings a positive, proactive, and pragmatic approach to her role as Chair. Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes on the past’.
Ken Clearwater
Survivor / Advocate
Ken Clearwater ONZM is a survivor and advocate for survivors of sexual assault. Ken has 30 years’ experience working with and supporting made a career working with and supporting victims and survivors of sexual abuse. In 2013, Ken was invited to New York City by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to participate in the first workshop on male victims of sexual abuse. Ken is currently a Kaitakawaenga (Commissioner) with the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.
Ellie Rose
Ellie Rose is a 22 year old ADHD musician songwriter and entrepreneur from Taranaki and lives in Wellington. Her whakapapa is to Tūhoe, Ngāti Pūkeko and Ngāpuhi. Ellie Rose has connected to the issues of sexual assault since she was three years old. She played a role in raising awareness during the Wellington musicians’ scandal in 2020. Ellie is gifted with a strong sense of justice and the will to make change by advocating for and helping others to navigate and overcome their circumstances. Ellie Rose is tired of observing the vulnerable being hurt by others who lack the courage to love. She tries her best to give what needs to be felt to empower individuals in their embrace of true happiness.
Chris Medlicott
Family Protection, Domestic Violence and International (Hague Convention) custody cases. Court appointed lawyer for children.
Debbs Murray
Debbs Murray is a victim survivor of family violence (FV) who has dedicated her career to the FV sector in a variety of roles from advocate, FV death review panel member, systems development, and manager. Debbs has worked for statutory and non-statutory organisations and has now founded and is the Director of ECLIPSE: Family Violence Services. ECLIPSE develops and delivers specialist family violence training packages that have victim survivor lived experience embedded into all aspects of the workshops. Debbs is deeply passionate about coercive control being recognised as a brutal and overarching family violence tactic and is striving for its criminalisation. Debbs aims to ensure the voice of lived experience is effectively utilised across the family violence sector (and social sector) to inform all aspects of practice, policy and strategy development and systems implementation. Debbs has a passion for identifying and addressing systemic deficiencies and structural inequity to equalise the healing platform for whanau experiencing violence, while increasing the workforce capability of our family violence frontline in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Debbs holds a Bachelor of Applied Science with a Psychology Major and Diplomas in Psychology, Child Psychology and Health and Human Behaviour.
Vanessa van Uden
Vanessa is a Director of Admin & Business Solutions and has extensive Governance experience as a Chair, and as an Independent Director. Vanessa is a member of the Institute of Directors and was elected to the Queenstown Lakes District Council as a Councillor in 2007 before serving as Mayor from 2010-2016.
Vanessa has a Master of Business Administration and was awarded an ONZM in the New Year’s Honours 2017 for services to Local Government. She has founded several charities including the Branches Charitable Trust, the Remarkable Cancer Gym and the Queenstown Lakes Baby Box Trust. She still maintains close contact with these charities and is Chair of the Baby Box and Remarkable Cancer Gym Trusts and Patron of the Branches Charitable Trust. In addition, she is Chair of the Abbeyfield Executive Committee, Pivotal Point Charitable Trust and Shaping our Future Inc and Presiding Member of the Otago Southland Lottery Community Grants Committee. Vanessa is also on the Executive Committee of the Whakatipu Wilding Pine Control Group and a member of the Otago Local Advisory Committee for Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Vanessa is very honoured to be part of the Louise Nicholas Trust helping to support individuals and their families and bring about change in our community.
Rachel MacGregor
Organisations
We work with.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25 November
What people say about us
Sheryl & Louise are both fantastic women who provide fabulous support & care. They are very grounded and "normal" women with no "high & mighty" attitudes or demeanour.
These ladies, unlike other support people, are able and willing to provide pastoral care 24 hrs - they do not "stop work" at 5 pm or need to rush off after a designated period of time to get home or to attend to another 'client'.
This is an amazing support service. It helped to make me feel safe and relatively calm during the process. They gave great advice and well needed emotional support. They also talked me through the process to help me understand what was going to happen.
Thank you for providing these wonderful ladies to support us.
Morena Louise,
This email is to express my sincere thanks for your assistance last week at X's trial. I truly would not have coped with the week without your, Sheryl's and Brenda-lee's assistance.
Aside from my complainant there were 5 other victims - her close family members - involved in this trial as you saw, as OC I had to manage the practicalities of the trial, keep everyone informed of timings and requirements, have time with each witness before giving evidence and manage the explosion of emotion that occurred within this whanau.
If I had to manage this on my own, the week would have without a doubt fallen apart and I could not have given the complainant and her whanau the support they needed.
This trial was the culmination of 7 years of pain, not just of the complainants' but also for her whanau. The value of having and your team there, to support that whanau and to support me and give me advice, cannot be underestimated.
This week I believe has resulted in a massive step in the healing process and another step toward closure and you and your team's contribution to that cannot be denied.
Sincerest thanks.
Sharlene
Officer in Charge