Joe
Joe came to us as a direct result of the It's not OK ads on television - he wanted to change. He was highly motivated and took on a lot of information very quickly.
Joe felt that his behaviour didn't fit with his values - he knew he was intelligent and he thought he should be able to be in a healthy relationship, it upset him that he was verbally abusive and ‘nasty' to his partner. It seemed incongruent to him.
The ad gave him an opportunity to do something and a number to ring. He particularly identified with the man on the ad who talked about ‘regret', who talked about yelling at his partner but wanting to be different.
Joe resorted to verbal violence about once every six months, not daily or weekly, and he felt remorseful afterwards, but the remorse wasn't enough to change his behaviour. The words ‘It's not OK" had a strong impact on him.
Kia Ora my name is Patumoana Jeremy Eparaima known to some as Patu and some as Jeremy so I answer to both....
I remember meeting Mum’s partner in 2004, let’s call him *Beau. Everything started off sweet for the first year, until he got into the drinking and going to the pub. Mum and Beau fought all the time over everything and anything....
Recently I had one of the best days I have ever had since joining the Police....
I am a midwife, and one story remains with me even though it's been years since it happened....
I was about five years old when my 13 year old half brother began to sexually abuse me and my older sister. I was nine and he had finished school and moved out of home before she was able to tell my parents what had been happening....
As a young Samoan boy I was always beaten and verbally abused and that’s where I think it started. Being abused and seeing it around me, I grew up thinking that was how you were supposed to do things....
“I am not one to ask or say too much, instead I will wait for others to see I want to talk or start to talk softly until some one notices that I want to talk....
When Ray Bishop landed a role in the film ‘Once Were Warriors’ he was acting out his own family’s story....