Only those who love us should decide our care: Elevating survivor voices of Takatāpui, Rainbow, and MVPFAFF+ communities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol37iss2id1249Keywords:
Takatāpui, nonbinary, MVPFAFF+, Pū Rā Ka Ū, state abuse, institutional harmAbstract
INTRODUCTION: This article examines systemic harm inflicted on Takatāpui, Rainbow, and MVPFAFF+ communities in Aotearoa through state and faith-based institutions. Drawing on survivor testimony from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, it situates these experiences within histories of cultural genocide, where colonial systems deliberately targeted those at the intersection of cultural identity and gender and sexual diversity.
METHODS: Using the Pū Rā Ka Ū framework, this qualitative study foregrounds verbatim accounts to honour survivors’ voices.
FINDINGS: Findings reveal how institutional violence, medicalisation and conversion practices were mechanisms of assimilation, with ongoing intergenerational impacts. Survivors articulate both the trauma of identity erasure and visions for change grounded in mana motuhake and Indigenous-led solutions, calling for structural transformation over symbolic gestures. Social work emerges as a primary mechanism in state-imposed erasure, requiring critical examination of the profession’s role in these systems.
IMPLICATIONS: As Ngāti Porou, takatāpui and nonbinary, a registered social worker, and a researcher, I position this work not to centre the social work profession but to create a platform for survivors’ truths. This article serves those who have endured institutional harm by ensuring their visions for transformation remain unfiltered and central to future pathways toward justice.
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