The history and impacts of colonisation While there is a significant absence of data and research on violence and abuse against tāngata whaikaha Māori, the available data demonstrates that it is a serious issue for Aotearoa New Zealand. Although the experiences of tāngata whaikaha Māori are diverse, issues of violence against Māori all sit within the broader context of colonisation. Government must fully understand and acknowledge these ongoing effects to comprehensively address the issues tāngata whaikaha Māori face in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. Colonisation created a devastating pattern that led to a loss of political power, cultural understanding and autonomy for Māori that continues today. The arrival of Pākehā settlers resulted in the systematic dispossession of Māori from their land. Colonial structures and policies created significant disparities between Māori and Pākehā, with Māori being forced to abandon their traditional ways of living in favour of colonial practices. This led to processes and institutions that remain systemically biased. The impacts of colonisation must be acknowledged as a historic, intergenerational and contemporary political determinant of health.67 Colonial attitudes have for decades attacked the collectivist nature of Māori society. Since the signing of Te Tiriti in 1840, a primary objective of Crown policy was to destroy the traditional collectivist nature of Māori society.68 As a result, it has been extremely difficult for Māori to sustain traditional tribal responsibility for their people. Māori are subsumed by colonial structures, services, and Western ways of thinking which reinforce and maintain social and cultural deprivation.69 Furthermore, Western practices conflict with a Mātauranga Māori view, which as Carne et al. described: “Sees individuals as intrinsically entwined within a web of connections, referred to as whakapapa. Ultimately, it is these connections that enable wellbeing to emerge. For Māori it is therefore critical to understand these connections and the outcomes that result from them. When the 14 Human Rights Commission web of connections is strong, it nourishes individuals. When the web is weak, or torn apart, the individual suffers”.70 Violence against Māori must be recognised within the context of colonisation in Aotearoa. Violence within whānau has been described as the ‘manifestation of the powerlessness and dispossession of colonisation.’71 The disconnection of Māori from their whānau and whakapapa as a result of colonisation has had long-lasting effects. Despite historical evidence that before colonisation there was an absence of violence within whānau, Māori are now highly exposed to it.72 The absence of family violence in traditional Māori society can be linked to a reliance on whānau, hapū and Iwi having collective obligations and responsibilities for the care and protection of their people.73 Since 1840, colonial structures have broken down these traditional societal practices, by diminishing the strength of the whānau, hapū, and Iwi.74 This has resulted in the inability of Māori to exercise rangatiratanga authority and make decisions in accordance with Tikanga and Te Ao Māori. Pūao-te-Ata-tū remains a significant report for understanding the continued failures of national institutions to account for the needs of Māori. The report looked seriously for the first time at problems of institutional racism, recognising it as the most insidious and destructive form of racism. It found that institutional racism existed in all state institutions and that government policy was largely monocultural, rooted in Western values, systems, and viewpoints.75 The cultural and social injustice that stemmed from colonisation and the subordination of Tikanga values affects the operation of all institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand. Institutional racism is not defined by the actions of individuals discriminating against others. Rather, the policies, structures, and underlying values of institutions are discriminatory. Māori can participate providing they subjugate their own values and systems, to those of the dominant culture.76 Institutions built on colonial foundations have produced approaches to the prevention of violence and abuse of Māori that are not Te Ao Māori and Tikanga appropriate. This has caused intergenerational damage for those who have lost whānau and