Using design to communicate the complexities of wāhine Māori experiencing domestic abuse to response service workers.
Aro & Ha: Turn to face, share breath. Using design to communicate the complexities of wāhine Māori experiencing domestic abuse to response service workers is a practice led research project investigating how design can emotively communicate existing research into wāhine Māori experiencing domestic abuse to response service workers such as police, WINZ (Work and Income New Zealand), and social workers.
This design project has engaged with researchers, social workers and Māori health professionals, learning from indigenous perspectives. The outcome of the project is a storytelling taonga which can be presented by a facilitator to response service workers in a professional development context. This taonga has the potential to be a healing tool, improving the quality of domestic abuse response services for the benefit of wāhine Māori who are seeking help.
This project investigates how design can serve to emotively communicate Denise Wilson’s (2021) research paper E Tu Wāhine E Tu Whānau: Wāhine Māori keeping safe in unsafe relationships.
Wāhine Māori are disproportionately represented in domestic abuse statistics, yet many wāhine have expressed that they feel unsafe approaching response services such as police and social workers. Many response service providers fail to understand and empathise with the complex situations of wāhine Māori experiencing domestic abuse.
This design project has engaged with researchers, social workers and Māori health professionals, learning from indigenous perspectives. The outcome of the project is a storytelling taonga which can be presented by a facilitator to response service workers in a professional development context. This taonga has the potential to be a healing tool, improving the quality of domestic abuse response services for the benefit of wāhine Māori who are seeking help.
To concisely and emotively communicate the research, it was necessary to communicate in a primarily visual manner. In developing this system of communication, the poetic nature of Te Reo Māori was identified as a mode of rich communication, even with only a few words.
Kupu were chosen to encapsulate themes within the research. The definitions of these words were then used to inform the illustrations. This created culturally informed illustrations, responding to meaning within language, rather than superimposing my own meanings onto existing concepts. Language and illustration worked in partnership to communicate complex ideas, creating layers of meaning.
Engaging with Te Ao Māori, the form and materiality of the artefact draws on the Māori creation narrative as a meaning-making device. Te Kore, Te Pō, and Te Ao Mārama are used to represent different responses of workshop participants throughout the experience of unravelling the layers of the artefact.
The realm of Te Kore: absence, is about breaking down barriers and assumptions to create a perspective void of bias about wāhine Māori. Each wall of the box represents an entrapping contextual factor that makes it incredibly difficult for wāhine to ask for help and work with the response service system. Breaking down these walls is representative of breaking down the layers of complexity within the contexts of wāhine Māori.
The realm of Te Pō: darkness, is about beginning with the unknown; humbly reflecting to conceive new ideas. In unfolding the layers of fabric, workshop participants are invited to participate in a mindful experience which encourages them to unravel previous biases and assumptions about wāhine Māori engaging with their services.
The realm of Te Ao Mārama is about holistically seeing wāhine Māori. Light and reality in Te Ao Mārama are represented by a woven kete (basket), paying homage to the beauty and strength of wāhine Māori through the link to cultural weaving practices. This kete contains cards that illustrate different aspects of who wāhine Māori are, such as Te Whare Tangata: the sacred bearers of future generations.
