Damien Petersen will never forget receiving his first call.
As soon as he heard the ringing, he knew on the other side of the phone was likely a man feeling angry, scared of what he might do to his family. But most importantly, they were looking for help.
By the time the man would hang up, he would leave the call with the information and wrap-around support needed.
For Petersen, his first was a success - both the man and his partner were safe.
But that first call would become one of many people dialing 0800 HEY BRO.
Named after the go-to Kiwi greeting, "Hey bro", it is just two words to start a conversation that could change someone's life.
"I've taken a lot of calls but it's always the first one I remember because the first one made the line real," Petersen said.
For whānau kaimahi Victoria Ashworth, she remembers answering the phone service to a wāhine crying.
The woman was being abused by her partner and she was petrified, Ashworth said.
From meeting her at the door of the kaupapa Māori organisation He Waka Tapu to getting a protection order through court, Ashworth was with her every step of the way until, eventually, the perpetrator left the city.
"I just felt really good knowing that I had done my best that I could do to help this woman and her whānau," Ashworth said. "I will always remember that one."
These a just a few success stories that have stuck with phone operators answering thousands of calls since the 24/7 phone service started.
All day and all night, the call-takers are there waiting because "family harm waits for no one".
New Zealand has the highest rate of family violence in the OECD. On average, police officers attend a family violence episode every four minutes.
Having worked in family violence since 2016, Petersen recognised there was support for victims of family violence and tāne after the abuse takes place - but there was nothing aimed at preventing harm from happening in the first place.
"One thing that became common was a lot of the men said if they could do something different they would talk to someone, phone someone," Petersen said.
So one night, lying in bed talking with his wife Tanith, he formed the idea of 0800 HEY BRO.
"We need men talking to men," Petersen said.
0800 HEY BRO was the first prevention line aimed to curb domestic harm in New Zealand and it caught wind pretty fast. It has been supported and promoted by numerous organisations including the Ministry of Justice and the New Zealand Police.
There was only two tāne, Petersen and his colleague Matiu Brokenshire, manning the phones for the first two months - answering calls from those who may be feeling angry, isolated or frustrated.
Now the service is celebrating five years running and has a team of kaimahi managing the line.
The service has morphed into not only supporting those at risk of domestic violence but also helping people with mental health problems across the nation.
They have even had callers from Australia.
What helps drive the success of the line is that the staff use lived experience with family harm to bring a shared understanding and abolish some of the whakamā and stigma that can come with it.
"When they ring, they're wanting something more than just that voice, they're wanting something for themselves which is that change," Petersen said.
After the call, a team provides wrap-around services from helping meet basic needs, access to counselling and treatment, connecting to local networks or just having a cuppa.
While making the first call can be hard, it is an important step towards stopping domestic harm, because after the fact is too late.
Petersen recalls one of the first things his colleague Brokenshire said when they started the line which sums up their mission nicely:
"If we can create a safe man, we can create a safe whānau. If we can create a safe whānau, we can create a safe community. If we can do that, we can create a safe city, which will hopefully create a safe nation."
"I hold that close because what he said is true," Petersen said.
0800 HEY BRO is a service offered through He Waka Tapu, a kaupapa Māori and whānau-led organisation which has been operating in Ōtautahi for almost 25 years.
