Wife bashing, gangs and marae protocol 'intrinsically linked'

12.00 pm

Maori men are using marae protocol to demean women while wife bashing, gangs and marae protocol are intrinsically linked, Act MP Donna Awatere Huata said today.

"A triad of evil exists between the rituals of the marae, family abuse and the predominance of gangs," she said in a statement.

"Our protocols are not solely to blame but they fortify the existence of sexism and violent behaviour."

Family abuse occurred when men were instilled with the belief that their "whims" were more important than the safety of anyone else, she said.

"We have mourned the deaths of Hinewaoriki Rerenoa Karaitiana-Matiaha and James Whakaruru but we haven't eliminated our protocols that rely on -- and promote -- the denigration of women and children."

The MP said male and female Maori elders upheld a system that stymied individual self worth and intimidated the young.

Rituals, embraced by many marae over the past decade, reduced women to "chattels".

Ms Awatere Huata said claims that such protocols were needed to protect Maori culture were a joke.

Pakeha history was similarly littered with shameful protocols and practices but these had mainly been discarded.

"If female genital mutilation were a Maori ritual we surely would have had the sense to abandon it long ago."

Maori women traditionally held places of rank, honour and responsibility, she said.

Men of dubious mana had manipulated history to erase Maori women's leadership in peace and war.

New Zealand had not bestowed emancipation on Maori women.

"We inherited that honour and responsibility from our own culture," she said.

Gangs such as the Mongrel Mob and Black Power, were based on male dominance and bullying. Males wore boots and jackets to psychologically intimidate the community, and treated women like dirt.

"This is consistent with the world view we maintain on the marae.

"Until we fix our protocols, we will continue to add to the roll call of battered children and abused women.

"Their blood sullies the palms of every Maori leader perpetuating the belief that male power is sacrosanct and that violence over the weak is their fight."

Ms Awatere Huata, who visited Waitangi Marae on Waitangi Day, said the marae protocol that made women sit on the floor while men occupied benches in front was meant to degrade women "and it succeeded".

While women were banned from speaking, they were forced to listen to "dead boring" oratories from male speakers who lacked intellectual rigour and overdosed on ritual.

Maori men used the "psycho-spiritual weapon of tapu" to threaten harm to a woman and her children if she challenged male authority.

"These rituals and protocols make it clear that a woman's place is on the floor with her head bowed."

- NZPA