Recommendations addressing structural drivers of violence that would help with prevention 8. Make structural changes to enhance the prevention of violence and abuse To secure meaningful and enduring change, the structural issues that create increased risk for tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people must be addressed in parallel to the above service, policy and legislative recommendations. These are issues of power/powerlessness, invisibility, lack of access to the social and economic determinants of health,179 and stigma and discrimination. These things, in turn, result in increased rates of disability180 and violence.181 Preventing violence, therefore, requires a response not only to people who are harmed by violence but to the structural drivers of that harm. In relation to these issues, we make the following recommendations. 9. Ensure all actions are grounded Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights A shared, nationwide understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights principles is the first step towards a full implementation of Aotearoa’s international and national human rights obligations to reducing rates of violence against disabled people182 and violence-related disability.183 We therefore recommend the government educate New Zealanders about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, human rights, and specifically the UNCRPD. We recommend: • realising the promises of Te Tiriti and rights for tāngata whaikaha Māori under UNDRIP and UNCRPD. • valuing indigenous worldviews ensuring programme design, implementation and evaluation is informed by tikanga and Te Ao Māori • prioritising tino rangatiratanga, selfdetermination and autonomous decisionmaking made by tāngata whaikaha Māori, whānau and communities. 10. Work to eliminate ableism Ableism, including audism, minimises the needs and concerns of disabled people. Eliminating ableism will enable disabled people to participate fully and safely in the social, economic and political spheres and to feel confident about speaking up or complaining if they have been discriminated against or hurt. Ableism must be identified and addressed at all levels of government and civil society. We support the recommendations made by Women with Disabilities to the Australian government that they: • recognise ableism and intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination as the drivers of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability • strongly reinforce that segregation of people with disability is discrimination, and facilitates violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation • examine how ableism and intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination operate within the country’s legal, policy and practice frameworks and through community attitudes, and how they underpin violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation • address the root causes of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and facilitate large scale responses and social transformation • identify ableism as a driver of violence against women and girls with disability.184 These recommendations are equally relevant in Aotearoa but must be implemented in Te Tiriti based ways that recognise the impact of colonisation on contemporary expression of ableism. Acting now for a violence and abuse free future 57