Ko wai mātou
About us
Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura – Outing Violence is a charitable trust focused on preventing and addressing violence experienced by Takatāpui and Rainbow people, including structural, institutional and interpersonal violence including sexual and partner violence. Our work is underpinned by an acknowledgment of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the impact of colonisation on understandings of sex, sexuality and gender diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We operate with a Te Tiriti structure, are survivor-led and include people with many different sexualities, genders, ethnicities, class and disability belongings, including allies. Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura asks us to cultivate peace through strengthening our connections and invites our communities to respect one another for all that we are. Outing Violence names all kinds of violence towards Takatāpui and Rainbow people as unacceptable. We take a community development and research-based approach to prevent violence, improve responses after people have experienced violence and promote wellbeing for people in Takatāpui and Rainbow communities across the lifespan. We offer training, advice and support for violence response agencies and policy makers.
Our Board
Kathleen Miller
Co-chair
Kath Miller (she/her) is a kaiwhakahaere for a community-based organisation, providing advocacy and support for whānau led by one carer. With 20 years of experience as a social worker, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, mana, and whakaute are integral to Kath’s social work and leadership approach. Kath is the co-chair of Hohou te Rongo Kahukura Trust and she joined the board in 2021. She loves the organisations kaupapa and the people involved. Her tribal affiliation is Waikato-Tainui.
Maki Rodriguez
CO-CHAIR
María Cristina Rodríguez (she/her) is a queer person from Colombia and co-chair of Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura. Maki has worked with refugee and migrant communities in Hamilton and Tauranga for fourteen years at NZ Red Cross, Shama Ethnic Women’s Trust and Tauranga City Council. She became involved with Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in 2021, and her focus is increasing the visibility, integration, and well-being of diverse Rainbow communities so that we all feel respected and valued regardless of our sexuality, gender identity or expression. Maki has lived in New Zealand with her partner for almost seventeen years.
Raukawa Newton
secretary
When her son Leighton, then aged two, started asking questions about Takatāpui/Rainbow communities, Raukawa (she/her) reached out to educate herself. Leighton became a spirited advocate against rigid gender norms; Raukawa, a fierce ally. Raukawa is passionate about keeping tamariki safe and helps parents have age-appropriate conversations around sexuality and gender through Kōrero Mai. She loves belonging to the Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura whānau, joining the board in 2021, and knows she will always have a place here.
Raukawa belongs to Ngāti Raukawa/Ngāti Maniapoto/Ngaruahine. She co-chairs Palestine Waikato and is part of the Māori leadership group in the Waikato.
Oriana Brown
Board
Oriana Brown (she/her) identifies as bisexual and is of Māori descent. She cares about the rainbow community and people living their ‘best’ lives. It is important to her to help people have a voice and a say in matters that affect them, which is one of the reasons she participated as an interviewer for the Elder Voices project. Oriana has been part of developing the Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura kaupapa since 2021, and loves being involved with the invaluable work and research, including the respect and embrace of ngā mea Māori. Oriana is also our guitar lead for Waiata Fridays.
Lee Page
Board
Lee Page (they/them) is a singer-songwriter, entertainer and comedian. They work in community with whānau who have diabetes, and they are passionate about being an advocate for people with disabilities. They’re motivated by the vision of having communities free from violence and being able to make a difference to people every single day. Lee is Takatāpui, connected to Te Atiawa and also uses words like queer, gay and non-binary to describe themselves. They have been involved in queer community rights and advocacy for more than 30 years, and love Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura for the connection to chosen whānau.
Scarlet Bennett
Board
Scarlet Bennett (he/him/they) identifies as queer and is based in Christchurch. They have worked in the education sector since 2008 and has been volunteering in the health and support sectors since 2017. Scarlet is passionate about social justice and equity, with a particular interest in supporting people living with HIV. Scarlet became involved with Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in 2021, becoming the first Tauiwi co-chair. They have also facilitated Club Kahukura.
Sandra Dickson
board
Sandra Dickson (she/they) is a Pākehā gender non-conforming woman of Scottish, Canadian and English descent. She has 30 years’ experience working in Takatāpui and Rainbow communities and family and sexual violence prevention at local, national and international levels. She is also autistic, bisexual, and a survivor. To bring a specific focus on Takatāpui and Rainbow people’s experiences of violence, Sandra informally founded Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in 2015. Today, Sandra is involved with Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura’s research, community development and violence response mahi and holds advisory roles for the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse and government.
Our kaimahi
Hamie
TakataApui Lead
Tēnā kōutou e te whānau,
He uri tēnēi no Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Maru (ki Hauraki), Kōtirana (Clan Horn), me Aerani (Clan Murphy).
Nei rā te mihi kia kōutou e tautoko mai ana i te haumarutanga me te whakaoranga o tātou hāpori Takataapui me te whanau Kahukura o Aotearoa nei.
Mauri ora e te whānau.
“Ki te kahore he whakakitenga ka ngaro te iwi” Nō Kingi Tawhiao Pōtatau te Wherowhero.
Hamie (ia/she/her) helped develop Club Kahukura in 2017 and became Takataapui Lead for Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in 2023.
Bex Fraser
Tauiwi Lead Trainer
Bex Fraser (they/them) is a Pākehā non-binary trans bisexual person who has worked as a facilitator, manager, and volunteer in community organisations for 20 years. Their focus is social justice, intercultural practice and violence prevention for marginalised people, including former refugees and migrants, single parents and queer people. Bex organised the 2015 Waikato hui for Hohou te Rongo Kahukura, and then co-developed the first healthy relationships programme for adults newly exploring gender and sexuality when coming out was identified as a particularly vulnerable time. They bring their wide experience and skills to Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in many ways.
Swathi RR
Kairuruku
Swathi (she/her) is a Kairuruku at Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura. She joined in April 2024 and is currently co-ordinating administrative, communication, and community development functions. She has lived in Aotearoa for six years and has a doctoral degree in Education from University of Waikato. She is passionate about research, education, and community development.
Our contract kaimahi
Sarah Court
TakataApui Trainer
Sarah Court is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāi Tahu descent, as well as being descended from Irish and Scottish colonial immigrants. Sarah’s pronouns are she/her. She started training with Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura in 2023. The thing she loves most about working with Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura is the feeling of family and community that we in the rainbow whānau often do so well.
Julia Tawa
Takataapui trainer
Julia Tawa (they/them) was born and raised in Utah, USA where their maternal pioneer heritage family is rooted. Their daughter holds whakapapa of Diné (Navajo) and Southern Paiute tribes in North America. Julia’s whānau in Aotearoa hail from Ngaati Paaoa, Ngāti Ranginui and they now call Tauranga Moana home. As a Takatāpui cultural anthropologist and creative artist, they are invested in preserving Indigenous knowledge, advocating for the restoration of sacred lands both physical and spiritual, and seeking justice for all marginalised peoples of the world. Julia has been working as a trainer for Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura since 2023.
Anna Tashkoff
Takataapui Trainer
Vivian Chandra
Tauiwi trainer
Kei te noho ahau kei roto i te taumarumaru o Te Pane o Mataoho – I sit in the shadow of Māngere Mountain
I tipu mai ahau i ngā tahataha o te moana o Manukanuka o Hoturoa – I grow better on the shores of Manukau Harbour
Nō Mārehia ahau – I am from Malaysia
Ko Tāmaki Makaurau te rohe, Kei Te Piriti o Māngere ahau e noho ana – I live in the area of Auckland, specifically Māngere Bridge
Vivian Chandra (she/her) is a queer cis woman who has been a trainer for Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura since 2023.
Carole Fraser
Club kahukura facilitator
Carole (she/her) is non-binary/trans/asexual and Pākehā. She is an experienced facilitator of trans women support groups and LGBTQ+ addiction recovery in both individual and group sessions, and began facilitating Club Kahukura at the start of 2023. Carole enjoys seeing people grow in authentic connection with themselves and others. Carole first identified as queer in 1976 while living and working in France, before terms such as transgender and gender-fluid existed. She taught adults and adolescents, retiring in 2008 to give more time to visual art practice. She and her wife have four children and actively grandparent their nine grandchildren.
Caya Divakalala
Club kahukura facilitator
Caya identifies as a queer person of colour from the mountains, waters, lands, flora, and fauna of Lanka (Sri Lanka). Caya cautiously uses she/her, while acknowledging that pronouns do not carry the same meaning in many South Asian cultures where languages were gender-neutral before colonisation. For 20 years, Caya has worked on building social justice and a sense of community across continents, cultures, histories, with people from diverse backgrounds, including through co-founding Adhikaar Aotearoa, a charitable trust that aims to diversify the realm of queerness in Aotearoa New Zealand. Caya co-facilitates Club Kahukura to foster inclusivity and community building.
