Rare courage
Whilst there will be no winners in the terrible abuse cases that are being exposed right now, there are some people that need to be acknowledged and honoured.
The police are doing a tremendous job in prosecuting the offenders, and that is to be recognised - thank you for all the hard work behind the scenes to bring about relatively quick closure.
The greatest thanks and honour belongs to those who have stood up to the abuse and had the courage to say, "You know what, I'm going to do something about this and say something." Such courage is rarely seen, and to those who have decided to put an end to the cycle, many of whom are still children, you are brave, strong and full of courage.
You have put a stop to what could have been countless more cases; you have saved the lives of many others; you are champions of our community and we honour you. Thank you for being so brave.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that these courageous children are leaders in our community. I say this because I dare say that this type of abuse is prevalent in other communities up and down the country - the difference is that these children have stood up to it and taken a stand against it.
I dare say that there are more cases of this type of abuse still in our community - will we as members of our community be brave enough to stand up to it? We have seen that the police will support your case 100 per cent - will we stand up?
Yet this courage and strength should not be limited strictly to such cases but should be spread across the spectrum.
There are many instances of domestic violence, drug use, alcohol abuse, theft, dangerous driving and the like throughout our community - will we do something about it, or will we continue to tolerate it, not want to get involved or be a "nark"?
The fact of the matter is that doing nothing not only condones the behaviour ... it fosters its growth.
Increasingly I am hearing stories of people who are not tolerating such behaviours in their family, streets, towns and community ... and they are doing something about it. Some are getting involved personally, some are calling the police at any hint of violence, some are contacting the agencies within our community for help and awhi.
The answer lies within ourselves - we must DO something if we see or hear of something that is just not right, even if it is small. We at least owe it to the next generation.
Whilst many would want to write off our community, it is redeemable - it is up to us as people within our community to take a stand for what we all know is right. Let's start to build the momentum.
MARK B TAN
Ahipara