A Tiriti-based approach is required – an approach that ensures tāngata whaikaha Māori are resourced and supported to develop and implement their own responses to violence and abuse. The following aspects would be part of this approach: • Tāngata whaikaha Māori (as Tiriti partners) would take part in decision-making • Tāngata whaikaha Māori would be enabled and supported to exercise rangatiratanga and self-determination to lead solutions • equity for tāngata whaikaha Māori would be at the heart of any response. Disabled people’s human rights have been breached The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that disabled people have the same civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as all other people in the world. A human rights approach to violence and abuse helps to: • increase understanding of the intersecting forms of disadvantage that disabled people experience • provide guidance on the many factors that need addressing to prevent violence, create safety, and design constructive responses. For many years, disabled people’s experiences of violence have been marginalised and ignored. This is discrimination that, under human rights legislation, requires an immediate response from government. Violence is an abuse of power Violence is, at its core, an abuse of power. One way to understand power dynamics in perpetrating violence is to examine which people in our society: • are perceived to be the most important and powerful • are primarily harmed by violence. People in society who are harmed are women, children, elderly people, tāngata whenua, LGBTQI+ and disabled men and women.3 Gender based violence is an epidemic: a gender lens is critical to adequately address violence Gender inequity is one result of power that is internationally recognised as causing violence.4 The United Nations identifies that “violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today”.5 The World Health Organization calls this a global epidemic.6 Violence toward disabled people is also an epidemic as disabled people experience even higher rates of violence Violence against disabled women and men is significantly more of an epidemic, with over 90% of disabled participants in some international studies disclosing physical, sexual and emotional/coercive violence against them.7 In Aotearoa and globally: • rates of violence against disabled men and boys are significantly higher than those for non-disabled men • rates of violence against disabled women and girls are higher than rates against disabled men and non-disabled women.8 The 2019 New Zealand Family Violence Study9 and the New Zealand Crime and Victimisation Survey (2021, NZCVS)10 report significantly higher rates of violence against disabled people compared with non-disabled people. Acting now for a violence and abuse free future 9