Once Were Warriors 25 Years On: Violence, Addiction, Sexual Abuse - What has New Zealand Learned?

Imogen Neale, Stuff

trailer 1:44  LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

Stuff reporter, Imogen Neale, revisits some of the themes raised in the groundbreaking film Once Were Warriors and asks what, if anything, has changed since its release.

Beth. Jake. Grace. Boogy. Uncle Bully.

Almost 25 years ago, five names were burned into the country's collective consciousness when the film adaptation of Alan Duff's novel Once Were Warriors debuted in cinemas.

Described by one American film critic as a "relentless sledgehammer of a film" it quickly became synonymous with the brutal reality of lives lived behind closed doors or in front of averted eyes.

Much of the film Once Were Warriors was filmed in the south Auckland suburb of Ōtara, much of which is still plagued by poverty.

Much of the film Once Were Warriors was filmed in the south Auckland suburb of Ōtara, much of which is still plagued by poverty. LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

Stuff has examined data on the film's key themes, and talked to people working at the coalface, to see what has, or hasn't changed over the past quarter of a century.

Coalface definition is - the place inside a mine where the coal is cut out of the rock

How many doors hide the bloodied walls of the Heke household? How many women would are suffocated by the practical impossibility of leaving an abusive partner?   

Is Once Were Warriors still a vivid illustration of the reality behind our country's benign facade? 

Beth Heke confronts Uncle Bully (left) about raping her daughter Grace.

SEXUAL ABUSE 

In the film, there's no suggestion that justice for Grace - raped in her bedroom by Uncle Bully who claims it's the teenager's fault for wearing a skimpy nightie - will be anything other than the toecap of her father's boots in Bully's side.

Indeed, if it wasn't for Grace's rough-sleeping friend Toot pressing Beth to read from her late daughter's diary, the rape may never have been discovered. Nor the catalyst for her suicide. 

Statistics from 1994 support Grace's experience of victims being blamed, disbelieved and feeling eventually isolated.

Rape Crisis reported two thirds of victims at the time, who reached out to the support service, did not go to police.

And just like young Grace, almost 50 per cent were sexually assaulted by a relative - almost half of which by their father. 

Of the 1898 convictions for violent sexual offences that year, three quarters of victims were under 16 years old at the time of the offence. Just under 50 per cent were under 12 years old. 

In 1994 - 2/3rd of sexual abuse victims did not report it to police

50% were assaulted by a relative

Half of them were assaulted by their father

3/4 of the victims of convicted sex abusers were under age 16

Half were under 12

Has it improved any in 25 years? Not so that you would notice.

There is much more to this excellent article - please access it from Stuff, here.