23 November, 2011 Media Release

Hey Bob we don’t think you should be wearing a white ribbon anyway

“If it wasn’t quite so pathetic, you’d almost have to laugh at the irony of Bob McCoskrie’s comments in the New Zealand Herald today saying he won’t be wearing a White Ribbon this Friday” said Heather Henare, Chief Executive of Women’s Refuges.

“I am actually surprised he even considered wearing a white ribbon against violence. When you consider the stand Family First made on the repeal of section 59 a few years back, it would have been an act of gross hypocrisy for Bob to make a public statement against violence by partaking in the White Ribbon Day anyway” Ms Henare said.

“How can someone who didn’t support a bill that would give children the same rights as adults against harm, in the same breath debate whether or not they would support an anti violence campaign?”.

“I am saddened to see his comments around whether or not we should focus on gendered violence in New Zealand. It shows his abject failure to understand what domestic violence means. Domestic violence entails a systematic pattern of behaviour whereby one person exerts power and control over another. The victim lives in fear. Overwhelmingly this is about a man’s violence towards a woman” she said.

“When you look at the police, serious injury and homicide statistics, they all show a pattern of abuse by men against women. Are men obtaining protection orders in Court because they fear for their lives? No. The common couple violence Bob refers to is different to domestic or intimate partner violence and it is very dangerous to confuse the two” Ms Henare said.

ENDS

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