The reporting tool for survivors of sexual harm has not yet been live for four weeks. Already, the numbers are remarkable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last month, after three years of work, Ali Mau and Zo\u00eb Lawton switched on the core reporting function at Tika<\/a>. Offering \u201ca free, safe and supported way for survivors to seek justice \u2013 whatever that looks like to you\u201d, Tika was built in direct response to a problem of extraordinary proportions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that 92% of people who experience sexual harm, sexual violence in their lives, never report it to anyone,\u201d Mau told The Spinoff. \u201cA large [number] never disclose it to anyone. So the problem we started with was: how do we raise those reporting rates? And the question really is how do you make people feel safe to report?\u201d<\/p>\n Mau and Lawton, a lawyer, set about creating Tika, an \u201calternative reporting option\u201d, to break through some of the many hurdles that stand in victims\u2019 way. The service then moves to correlate testimonies, so that legal support and advice can be provided \u2013 always free of charge. \u201cThe one thing that Zo\u00eb and I learned in our almost decade now of working with survivors of sexual harm in our different lanes of media and the law,\u201d said Mau, \u201cis that there is almost always more than one survivor. Often there are many.\u201d<\/p>\n Already, with the site live for not yet four weeks, the response has been staggering, said Mau. \u201cTo date, we have received almost 1,400 reports. That’s 30% of all the reports that were received by police of sexual assault last year. In under a month. So it’s overwhelming\u2026 Our youngest client is 18. Our oldest is 82.\u201d<\/p>\n The work now moves to \u201ctriaging those reports and making sure that the people who are having technical problems are being supported\u201d. In November, \u201cthe second part of the work starts with giving personal legal advice to members who are part of a group”.<\/p>\n Mau\u2019s work at Tika builds on decades of experience as a journalist and advocate. A familiar presence on New Zealand screens from as early as the 90s, she founded <\/a>and led the #MeTooNZ project for Stuff for five years from 2018. Last year she published No Words for This, an autobiography The Spinoff called <\/a>\u201cgripping, revelatory, generous and layered\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n