In July I was asked by Family Harm Prevention to attend a meeting with the Family Harm Practitioners to explain to them the role that National Council of Women play in preventing family violence.

I prepared a short presentation with slides and upon arrival was shown into a small room with a huge table surrounded by nearly 50 women, mainly Māori women and immigrant women. The manager asked me if I would like to meet them and so they went around the room and each woman introduced herself, sometimes in te reo with English translation stating what their role was in the organization.

I was overwhelmed by their responsibilities and prior to the presentation advised them that I felt very privileged to be in the company of such amazing women who were so supportive of our community.

The presentation was very well received. They expressed an interest in meeting with NCWNZ members to discuss upcoming NCWNZ Action Items which relate to women, children and families. They felt that they could make a valuable contribution to the NCWNZ presentations to Parliament. Board approval would be required for this but as these practitioners are working from the ground level, their input could be of value. They were particularly interested in the agreement of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and took away the International Council of Women (ICW) handouts provided.

The Manager [male] asked us to leave as the room was required for another meeting but a quarter of those attending came up to me, expressed their gratitude and gave me a big hug. I thought the meeting was well received by those attending and a tribute to National Council of Women.

Judi Goldsworthy, NCW Manukau President

To read more articles from The Circular (July-August 2023) issue 642, click on the tag below.