We welcome Emma Jehle-Elvidge as our new Women’s Services Coordinator
Emma Jehle-Elvidge now looks after Women’s Support (free advice, referral and information), and coordinates our community education programme. Emma is a fantastic addition to our team, as the wonderful Awatea Mita continues as kaiwhakatuhono for our Aotearoa Free From Stalking project.
Kind, practical and energetic, Emma finished her studies in Law and Arts (sociology and gender studies) in late 2023 – she chose subjects she thought may help prepare her for work in social systems improvement. “Gender studies was totally eye-opening. I wanted to understand my experience a bit more, and it totally did that,” says Emma. For example, Professor Nicola Gavey’s lectures about the cultural scaffolding of rape (similar to the pyramid of sexual violence) resonated with her. “It explained why sexist jokes felt so bad and made me so angry – it’s because they lead to violence against women. So it made sense. Knowing these ideas made it feel like I had power over the system rather than just being at mercy of it,” says Emma.
Gender studies also introduced her to the idea of intersectional feminism – that is, feminism which acknowledges that burdens of oppression – misogyny, sexism, colonisation, racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia – can intersect with and exacerbate each other. “I learned that as a white woman in an able body, I myself am only going to be subject to one type of gendered inequality. That I am relatively privileged,” says Emma. “That was a really humbling, absolutely necessary moment for me as a feminist.”
As well as her day job, Emma volunteers at the Waitematā Community Law Centre where she assists people, including women experiencing relationship disputes, parenting issues, and family violence. “I did law because I like a challenge – I like problem-solving and figuring out how to make things work,” she says. However, legal study was a bit frustrating. “It felt like most of my career options were about helping rich people fight about money! But with family law class, I was like ‘yes! I really like this!’”
Last year she was admitted to the bar but then worked in hospitality to save up to travel for four months with a friend, down the east coast of South America: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina (the banner images shows Emma and a friend in El Calafate, Patagonia). Plus the Galapagos which was “a dream come true!” says Emma. “There really were wild animals everywhere: seals, lizards, pelicans… we went snorkelling with giant sea turtles and even sharks – they were sleeping in a cave. And people don’t usually talk about the plants in Galapagos, but the greenery, the moss, the life, was amazing.”