Improving outcomes for wāhine Māori starts with understanding Mana Wāhine

Too many Māori women in Aotearoa are living the painful reality of homelessness. They are unseen, unheard, and unsupported.

Our groundbreaking research, Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga: Understanding Barriers and Solutions to Women’s Homelessness in Aotearoa, reveals a heartbreaking truth: over one third of homeless women in Aotearoa are Māori.

The historic and contemporary impacts of colonisation, combined with deep-rooted systemic discrimination in housing, plays a significant role in this overrepresentation. 

Improving outcomes for wāhine Māori starts with understanding Mana Wāhine

Sharon Shea (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Hako) has spent over 25 years advocating for equity and improved outcomes for Tāngata Whenua and recently completed research on the topic of Mana Wāhine. Sharon, who is speaking at our Women’s Homelessness Panel Discussion on Monday, 26 May, says that Māori women's voices, values, and leadership remain largely invisible in policy, funding, and strategy, and this applies to housing.

“Any outcomes for wāhine Māori must begin with a foundational understanding of Mana Wāhine, which is grounded in Te Ao Māori knowledge systems which honour the leadership, sovereignty, and dignity of Māori women. Contemporary lessons can be learnt from pre-colonial Mana Wāhine practices,” Sharon says.

This understanding was echoed throughout our research at the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness. The lived experiences of wāhine Māori, and the insights of those who support them, consistently highlight how critical culturally grounded approaches are.

As part of our research, we spoke to nine kaimahi and frontline workers supporting homeless women from across Aotearoa.

One kaimahi shared:

“For our wāhine Māori, I think the challenges are that people can’t distinguish whether it’s mental health or wairua. So, for us, we work in a wairua sense as well, and we are not afraid of it.”

Mana Wāhine offers us a clear path forward

Sharon Shea explains that Māori women have been “invisibilised” across successive governments in policy, strategy, and initiatives.

“Mana Wāhine offers us a clear path forward,” she says, recommending three key actions:

• Build a shared understanding of Mana Wāhine, grounded in Māori ways of being that leverage off sophisticated tikanga-based systems pre-1840.

• Activate systemic change by applying this understanding to shape policy, funding, and service design and delivery.

• Measure outcomes to ensure the approach creates meaningful, sustained impact for wāhine Māori, as defined by wāhine Māori.

The housing sector has an opportunity to become a role model for others

Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga highlights not only the disproportionate impact of homelessness on Māori women, but also the transformative potential of culturally safe, appropriate, community-led solutions.

One powerful story from Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga is that of Kiri, a respected kaumātua and treaty advocate who now lives far from her iwi and whenua. Her rural community lacked the housing and healthcare she needed as her health deteriorated, forcing her to relocate.

Despite now being in a culturally grounded rest home, her more complex health needs remain unmet. Kiri’s experience reveals the gaps for older Māori women, especially those with complex health needs, and the urgent need for whānau-centred, accessible, and culturally appropriate housing options for wāhine Māori.

Housing can help lead the way to restoring Mana Wāhine

Sharon Shea believes that long-term, safe, and healing housing can help lead the way to restoring Mana Wāhine for Māori women who are homeless.

“The housing sector has an opportunity to become a role model for others. By embedding Mana Wāhine into housing policy, strategy, and activation, it can introduce specificity and visibility in its approach to wāhine Māori, leading the way in supporting wāhine to exercise their mana and rangatiratanga, and prevent homelessness,” she says.

Kiri, whose story features in Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga, also advocates for deeper collaboration between iwi and property developers to ensure kaumātua have access to affordable housing and integrated healthcare support.

Join the kōrero

Find out more about women’s homelessness through a Mana Wāhine lens at our Women’s Homelessness Panel Discussion on Monday 26 May.

Register here.