Kia ora

Welcome to the new web presence of the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust Aotearoa NZ (MSSAT Aotearoa).

MSSAT Aotearoa has now been in existence for three years. With the overall aim of ensuring survivors experience safety and respect throughout their journey, MSSAT Aotearoa has made considerable progress. What has been achieved during this relatively short time is commendable and includes:

  • Ongoing development of a cohesive and functioning national organisation with national policies and protocols to enable and support regional activities.
  • Development of a sound relationship with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) where we finally have ongoing involvement in decision making. We are thrilled that the voice of survivors is being heard and acted on at this level.
  • Finalising realistic funding contracts with MSD at both national and regional levels, notably the securement of funding for this and the next financial year.
  • The creation and embedding of Ken Clearwater’s role as the National Survivor Advocate.
  • The implementation of a shared case management system – PAUA, which will support operations and enable operational reporting for future funding.
  • The estblishment of a qualifications framework and commencement of training for peer support workers.

We can rightly feel proud of these achievements. However I am aware that more work is required to:

  • Develop a sound evidence base for our peer support work and devleoping best practice protocols for supporting male survivors of sexual abuse. The upcoming international conference ‘Building Bridges’ to be held in Christchurch in November this year is a major achievement in this area as are our plans to pursue research opportunities as they arise.
  • Increase awareness of, and access to, our regional services and ensure that we have adequate funding to support a national network of quality support services.
  • Extend our support for the sustainable growth of our regional centres and identify vialble opportunities for development in those regions not currently providing services.

The future looks very positive and I would like to thank all those who have been involved in getting us to this point.

Best wishes

Philip Chapman
Chairman
MSSAT ANZ