New children's book aims to break culture of silence that surrounds abuse

A campaign designed to encourage children to speak out and find help if they experience abuse has been launched today by the Governor-General.

The campaign is centred around the release of the book 'The Wolf and the Hocus Pocus', written by New Zealand author Avril McDonald in collaboration with Save the Children, Life Education Trust and Women's Refuge.

It aims to break the culture of silence that traditionally surrounds sexual and other forms of abuse in New Zealand and deliver children a vital message: to seek out a trusted adult until they find one who believes them and will act on their behalf to help keep them safe and secure.

Avril McDonald is the author of the 'Feel Brave' series of books, which are little stories about big feelings for 4-7-year-olds, as well as the founder of 'Feel Brave', which aims to give all children access to tools that help them manage tough emotions and reach their creative potential. Each book tells a story about a real-life situation that children may face, while offering a simple strategy to cope.

The campaign was launched at Government House in Wellington by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro who has also written the book's foreword.

Dame Cindy said the campaign was important to her.

"This is an opportunity to promote a resource that encourages children to know that their feelings are legitimate, and to think there is a way that they can deal with those deep feelings that are very hard to process, and that they can go to other people, and get help," she said.

"Anything that improves the ability of children to be able to deal with complex feelings, and with things that are happening in their lives that they can't control, is hugely important."

Dame Cindy said she wanted to see New Zealand do better at encouraging children to speak out and find help.

"We have to look for ways that help children process these feelings, and articulate what's happening to them, and look to supportive friends and adults who can help them deal with it."

Author Avril McDonald started writing the 'Feel Brave' books 12 years ago.

She said she started writing stories that were taken from messages from large organisations after a Dunedin firefighter asked her to write a book for children and families of first responders three years ago.

Later, New Zealand Police asked her to write stories about children who were a witness or a victim of crime, which led her to being invited to a panel with a report around the state of child sexual exploitation and abuse across 21 commonwealth countries.

She said one of the key findings from that report was that more needed to be done to help children feel like they could come forward and tell their stories without fear of shame, societal stigma, or repercussions.

"That's when I thought I can join all of the dots here, and I think I might be able to help," McDonald said.

She said 'The Wolf and the Hocus Pocus' was about a heavy topic, but she felt ready to approach the subject and do it well.

There were 20 students from Newtown School invited to a puppet show and reading of the book at Government House this morning.

Two students, Dahlia and Florence, said it was their new favourite book, and their favourite part was "all of it".

The Minister for Children and Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, hoped the book could be seen by many young people in New Zealand as possible.

"When they're crying out for help - making sure that there's somebody there to help them."

She said 'The Wolf and the Hocus Pocus' was special.

"It's great to see somebody in that space, actually listening to our young people, listening to those gaps, and finding a creative way of getting through to our young people."

The chief children's commissioner, Dr Claire Achmad, said New Zealand had a real problem when it came to keeping our children safe.

"Every single child in this country has a right to be safe, to grow up loved, and be well," she said.