Te Awatea Violence Research Centre | ![]() |
Te Awatea has been established in response to community concerns at the prevalence of violence in New Zealand.
Interpersonal violence can affect people of all ages, across all cultural and social groups. It can cause physical, emotional, psychological, and material damage to victims/survivors, their families, and their communities.
Te Awatea Violence Research Centre has three main aims:
The name Te Awatea - moving from darkness into light - was gifted to the Centre by Te Runaka ki Otautahi o Kai Tahu. This relationship and consultation represents partnership with Maori and reflects a commitment on behalf of Te Awatea to support the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in scholarship, research, and practice. Te Runaka ki Otautahi o Kai Tahu has also appointed a Kaumatua to the Centre thus further strengthening ties with Maori.
Te Awatea recognises the centrality of Maori interests as the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand and is committed to ensuring that Maori are represented in all aspects of the Centre's work. This includes the support of Maori scholarship and research and the development of methodologies that are non-colonising.
Te Awatea also affirms the interests of other cultural groups within New Zealand and is committed to working toward a better understanding of how violence impacts on our diverse population.
Te Awatea is also committed to supporting the interests of people most at risk of becoming victims of violence, in particular by contributing to wider preventative efforts to ensure that all people in Aotearoa are supported to live violence-free lives.
Te Awatea is committed to the generation of ethically responsible, high quality research that reflects accurate experiences of contexts, processes, and outcomes in collaboration with national and international researchers.
To achieve its aim of providing information and resources about violence, violence intervention and prevention, Te Awatea provides the umbrella for five research concentrations. Together, these will provide an ongoing resource of up-to-date research and information across the range of areas.