95bFM Investment in Māori support services needed to address human rights inequalities
31 July, 2023
Interview by Rosetta Stone, adapted by Sofia Kent
Just Speak Executive Director, Aphiphany Forward-Taua, says data released by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) showing that Māori are disproportionately affected by human rights violations 'shouldn't come as a surprise.'
The HRMI released its latest data on the state of human rights across the world, revealing a decline in rights in Aotearoa.
It determined that Māori are considered worse off when it comes to human rights in Aotearoa compared to the general population, including the right to housing, education, and food.
Just Speak Executive Director, Aphiphany Forward-Taua told 95bFM’s The Wire that this data “shouldn’t come as a surprise”.
“Across the board, looking at education, health, incarceration, and justice statistics for Māori, Māori are at much more significant risk of breaches to human rights.”
Forward-Taua highlighted that false narratives and rhetoric surrounding ram raids and co-governance are harmful to Māori wellbeing.
“A lot of these narratives are actually not based on evidence, so what it's creating is this kind of political footballing of Māori support services that are needed across various parts of our society, like health and education.”
“It's so important that we acknowledge that our system quite often does not protect Māori, and we're seeing that in this data.”
According to HRMI, 67% of the human rights experts believe Māori are at high risk of having their health rights violated, compared to 17% for the general population. On the right to education, the figure for Māori was 50%, compared to 8% for the general population.
Māori are also more likely than other ethnicities to be incarcerated and a large proportion of young people being held in youth justice residences are Māori.
“That has a huge impact on their ability to reintegrate into society without judgement and without prejudice," said Forward-Taua.
“It also affects them health wise and in terms of education and employment opportunities.”
Forward-Taua said the prison systems are not meeting the “minimum entitlements,” required by law.
“We hear anecdotal evidence from people in prisons that are not receiving basic things like band-aids and medication that they need for their mental health needs.”
She said there is an urgent need for adequate support and rehabilitation programmes for people in prisons.
“So when people come out of prison, they are better able to be positive, contributing members to our society.”
Forward-Taua emphasised the importance of the government adhering to the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights, which they put on hold indefinitely last year.
“It is urgent they continue that work so they can consistently be monitoring themselves and checking they are honouring that convention.”
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
