Mana Ririki's Anton Blank interviewed about child abuse

Mana Ririki Founder and Executive Director Anton Blank has spoken about child abuse on Radio New Zealand. The interview included the role of social media, the challenges of confronting child abuse, the importance of Māori identity and the parenting programme provided by Mana Ririki: Violence Free Whānau.

Mana Rirki is currently undertaking a small research project with Māori teenagers who have survived some form of maltreatment. They are planning to develop resources for Māori fathers. Previous reseach carried out by Mana Ririki includes Traditional Māori parenting by Kuni Jenkins et al (2011) and Māori child maltreatment: a literature review report  by Erana Cooper and Julie Wharewera-Mika.

The Mana Ririki vision is to eliminate child abuse within two generations so that all children can enjoy a family life that is free from violence. Anton Blank said using entertainment and social media has the ability to reach more whānau with messages which promote positive, violence-free parenting. 

The Herbs' classic song 'Sensitive to a Smile' has been remade by the Aotearoa All Stars, a collaboration of some of New Zealand's best reggae artists. Proceeds from the single, now available on iTunes, are being donated to Mana Ririki. Artists Rio Panapa (Sons of Zion) and Avina Kelekolio (Tomorrow People) initiated the 'Sensitive to a Smile' project with the aim of highlighting the issues around child abuse and raising awareness. Avina said, "A lot of child abuse affects our people, Māori and Pasifika - and they are the biggest reggae fans so we thought we could try to make a positive change through our music." Artists who have contributed to the single include Sons of Zion, Tomorrow People, Three Houses Down, House of Shem, Ria Hall, Majic Paora, Che Fu, Katchafire, 1814, Chad Chambers, NRG Rising and Tasty Brown. 

Media: Anton Blank: Ending Māori Child Abuse, Radio New Zealand National, 23.06.2013

Image: Warrior and Sleeping Son by Clayton Scott. Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)