Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

#MeToo leads to increase in Whangārei Rape Crisis work

Northern Advocate
12 Nov, 2018 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The #MeToo movement has seen a rise in cases to Whangārei Rape Crisis, which has a fundraiser planned to help deal with the workload.

The #MeToo movement has seen a rise in cases to Whangārei Rape Crisis, which has a fundraiser planned to help deal with the workload.

Whangārei Rape Crisis is dealing with a higher than usual number of historic sexual abuse cases since the #MeToo movement encouraged women to speak out.

Unlike the international celebrities going public about their experiences, women going to the rape crisis (WRC) service to get support in dealing with past or ongoing abuse are guaranteed confidentiality.

''We've had a massive increase in historic cases,'' co-ordinator Desiree Wikaira said. ''We are struggling.''

That is not to say the trained support workers and volunteers are struggling to do the job, but the WRC struggles to meet all its financial requirements.

The Ministry of Social Development funds the service to the tune of 60 per cent of its annual costs but the rest - administration, rent, materials, some operating costs - has to be found, usually by fundraising and donations.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On Saturday WRC will hold a fundraising lunch to which anyone is welcome, at A'Fare in Whangārei. The $45 per person lunch will be followed by a silent auction of goods supplied by local businesses.

Volunteer Maria Vuletich said WRC hopes to get support through the event from Whangārei service groups, schools and organisations who have been notified about it. Members of the public, past clients and anyone else keen to show their support are welcome.

Despite the higher number this year, the majority of WRC's clients have always come about historic incidents, Wikaira said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Support workers also work with immediate victims of rape or violation. Clients ''walk in'' or phone, or are referred by medics, police or other services. At times it is not the victim but a woman near to her who might need help dealing with their close one's trauma.

WRC in turn needs support to continue its services, which include trained support workers working with a client in a counselling capacity, and someone being on hand at meetings, police interviews, medical examinations and court hearings if that's what a client wants. Most do not seek police or court action.

Apart from the fulltime co-ordinator role and support workers being paid for the hours they put in, the bi-cultural collective stays afloat because of its volunteers, Wikaira said.

WRC is planning to hold a training programme early next year, and would like to hear from interested prospective volunteers.

''Before they start, every volunteer who works here in any capacity has to go through our training programme, which is the national Rape Crisis training."

The fundraising lunch is on at A'Fare next Saturday, November 17, at 1pm. Catering numbers need to be confirmed on Wednesday so for tickets, contact Maria on 027 289 0118 or Whangarei Rape Crisis 09 438 6221.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Storm hits Northland, 500 still without power as crews work to restore

Northern Advocate

256-year-old anchor found after 43 years, confirming historic discovery

Northern Advocate

'Will it take someone to die?': 85yo's fears after home demolished by airborne car


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Storm hits Northland, 500 still without power as crews work to restore
Northern Advocate

Storm hits Northland, 500 still without power as crews work to restore

'Hopefully we can get out there and get it all fixed.'

17 Jul 09:27 PM
256-year-old anchor found after 43 years, confirming historic discovery
Northern Advocate

256-year-old anchor found after 43 years, confirming historic discovery

17 Jul 09:02 PM
'Will it take someone to die?': 85yo's fears after home demolished by airborne car
Northern Advocate

'Will it take someone to die?': 85yo's fears after home demolished by airborne car

17 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP