Voices for Change NZ

24/08/2026

Family lawyers face mounting pressure ahead of the Family Law Conference, with key challenges and issues shaping the profession

08/08/2026

Petitions are addressed to the House of Representatives and ask that the House do something about a policy or law, or put right a local or private concern.

08/08/2026

Time to Roar

Someone needs to notify the enemy that they will NOT be intimidated!! That NOTHING else can be stolen, taken, or delayed in Jesus name. It’s felt like bricks being thrown at you from every direction the last few days. Your breath has had to be slow and intentional, especially when it felt like it was trying to be taken.

But listen up warrior!! You may have shed a tear or two, but I see you up and moving. Putting one foot in front of the other. There may have been old familiar voices trying to whisper in your ear, BUT I hear the LION roaring over you! I hear a sound of thanksgiving coming out of your belly for the VICTORY you KNOW is around the corner.

Where the sound of war raged, I hear the sound of laughing coming forth. If you could only see how HE is already moving, how He’s bringing every promise forth. The enemy is scurrying, placing facades and desperately trying to make you think you are back in the same wilderness as before.

Let the lion war over you, laugh in the face of the enemy and be determined to NOT BE INTIMIDATED!!

Candace Roberts,
Trauma informed prophetic counselor

17/01/2026

Beautiful truth 🤍🕊️

If you are in a custody battle with a narcissistic ex, this message is for you.

What you are facing is not a fair fight and it was never meant to be. This is not about the children to them, even if they swear it is. This is about winning, control, image, and proving dominance. The kids become leverage, not priority. And that is one of the hardest truths to accept because you are walking into court driven by love, while they are driven by ego.

It feels terrifying because they are loud, confident, and relentless. They lie easily. They play the victim well. They suddenly look like the most involved parent in the world on paper and in public. Meanwhile, you are exhausted, emotionally drained, and trying to hold yourself together while still showing up for your children every single day. That imbalance can make you doubt yourself. Do not.

Here is what matters more than their performance. Consistency. Patterns. Reality over time.

Narcissists can act for a moment. They cannot sustain authenticity. Courts may not catch everything immediately, but patterns always surface. Someone who truly puts children first does not weaponize them. Someone who truly loves their kids does not create chaos, instability, or endless conflict just to feel powerful. Someone who is a safe parent does not need to destroy the other parent to look good.

You are not weak because this is hurting you. You are strong because you are still choosing your children over revenge. You are still showing up calmly while being provoked. You are still documenting, protecting, and prioritizing stability even when you want to scream. That restraint is not invisible, even if it feels like it is right now.

Do not let their theatrics convince you that you are losing. Narcissists rely on intimidation and exhaustion. They want you dysregulated, reactive, and hopeless. Your clarity, your patience, and your ability to stay grounded is your power.

Keep records. Keep routines. Keep showing who you are through actions, not words. Let them expose themselves through their inconsistency, their need for control, and their inability to co parent without conflict. You do not need to prove they are bad. You only need to keep proving you are safe, stable, and child focused.

This process is brutal, unfair, and emotionally draining. But you are not alone. Many have walked this path and come out the other side with their integrity intact and their children protected. Trust that the truth has weight, even when lies are loud.

Stay steady. Stay focused. Your children feel who is safe, even if they cannot say it yet. And one day, this fight will end, but the example you are setting will last.

17/01/2026

Relevant to today: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0M3aTWiIv6rqOYwTLpTF8S?si=rb3shV5NTviP7IbwWHqfpQ

David Pawson - ’Unlocking the Bible’ Podcast · Episode

15/01/2026

GOoD

11/01/2026

🚨 PUBLIC CALL TO ACTION: CRIMINALISE PSYCHOLOGICAL & NEUROLOGICAL ABUSE IN AOTEAROA 🚨

This is a public safety issue hiding in plain sight.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, physical violence is rightly recognised as a crime.
Yet prolonged psychological and neurological abuse—which can be just as damaging and life-threatening—remains largely minimised, mislabelled, or ignored.

People are breaking down. Children are being placed with controlling or abusive caregivers.
Families are being torn apart. Survivors are labelled “unstable” while perpetrators continue unchecked.
This is not a mental health failure. It is a legal accountability gap.

This Is Not About “High Conflict”
Modern research confirms what survivors have long known:
Sustained coercive control, intimidation, isolation, gaslighting, and psychological domination cause real injury to the brain and nervous system.

These impacts are linked to:
- chronic illness and autoimmune conditions
- cardiac and endocrine dysfunction
- depression, self-harm, and su***de
- substance dependency
- loss of self-protective capacity
- long-term disability

When harm escalates, it is often dismissed as a “mental health issue.”
It is not.
It is foreseeable injury caused by prolonged psychological abuse.

Harm Without Bruises Is Still Harm
The law recognises cumulative physical violence as serious criminal harm.
Yet when the same cumulative damage is inflicted psychologically, survivors are told to “co-parent better,” “communicate calmly,” or “manage their emotions.”
That double standard is costing lives.

This Is a Systemic Issue
Psychological abuse is:
- used in domestic and family violence
- reinforced through legal processes
- hidden behind neutral language
- enabled when survivors are punished for speaking up

Children are harmed when safe parents are discredited.
Survivors are retraumatised for seeking protection.
Control is rewarded, not challenged.
This is not accidental.
It is a gap in how harm is recognised and responded to.

WHAT WE ARE CALLING FOR
We are calling on lawmakers and institutions to:
🔴 Explicitly recognise coercive control and psychological abuse as serious harm
🔴 Treat sustained psychological and neurological injury as an offence against the person
🔴 Hold perpetrators accountable when psychological abuse leads to serious health impacts
🔴 Prioritise child safety over false neutrality

This is not extreme.
It is necessary.
And it is long overdue.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
1️⃣ Speak to your local MP
Ask them to support stronger recognition and accountability for psychological abuse and coercive control.
2️⃣ Share this message. Silence protects abuse. Awareness protects people.
3️⃣ Stop calling abuse “high conflict” There is no such thing as shared coercive control. There is no mutual neurological harm.
Call it what it is.

Many of those society labels like “unstable,” “addicted,” or “broken” are people who were never protected when it mattered most.
Trauma does not discriminate. But systems often do.
Until psychological and neurological abuse are fully recognised and addressed, one of the most harmful forms of violence will continue to be minimised.

This is preventable. This is a public safety issue.
This is a call for accountability.
—Shared in support of survivors, children, and systemic reform in Aotearoa New Zealand.