Source: RespectEd Aotearoa
RespectEd Aotearoa will close in August after exhausting its reserves following the withdrawal of government funding.
For ten years, RespectEd Aotearoa has worked in the spaces where sexual violence begins. It has delivered comprehensive programmes that recognise everyone’s right to live free from harm. It has helped organisations build cultures where respect is genuinely understood and expected.
That work is ending in August.
RespectEd was founded in 2015 by Wellington Rape Crisis, WellStop, and HELP. These organisations understand the human cost of sexual violence and the limits of response-only or piece-meal approaches to sexual violence, RespectEd was created to fill this gap.
“We are not closing because the need has gone away,” says Jan Logie, Chair of the Board of RespectEd Aotearoa. “We are closing because the funding did. And those are very different things.
“Government estimates that there are 209,000 incidents of sexual violence per year. This is larger than the population of Wellington, and yet the Government’s decision to end funding forces the only specialist sexual violence prevention organisation in Wellington to close.
“We have spent the last 10 years building relationships with schools, employers, the hospitality industry, government agencies, and communities and learning what works. We are so proud of the work the team has done. The trust, and the specialist knowledge, does not transfer easily. When RespectEd closes, this will not simply move elsewhere.”
When ACC ended Mates and Dates in 2022 the money was meant to be reallocated to a national community based sexual violence prevention programme. This did not happen and left RespectEd unable to sustain its operations. Despite pursuing every available funding pathway, the organisation has exhausted its reserves and will be forced to close.
“ACC commissioned research that estimated the annual cost of sexual violence in Aotearoa is $6.9 billion. Most of that cost is borne by us in our own communities. We need the Government to invest in preventing violence to change this.
“RespectEd was built on the evidence that sexual violence is not inevitable. That if you reach people early, shift norms, build skills, and create cultures of genuine respect, you can stop harm before it happens. That work has never been more needed.
“Social investment, at its best, means resourcing what is already working before harm occurs, not after. We call on the Government to adequately fund prevention work. Not to save an institution, but to keep alive the work that protects people,” says Logie.