Lindsay Mitchell
lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com
According to Agnes Loheni, National List MP, after another domestic murder of a female by a male:
“If you are a man stand up for the mums, the wives, the daughters, the grand-daughters in your lives and demand accountability of yourselves,” she said.
“I challenge the men to organise the protest march against this death and all these deaths. I challenge our men to flood the streets of Auckland, Hamilton, and Wellington with as many people as have stood for George Floyd.
“I challenge the men to take over the organisations that work with intimate partner violence and take this burden off women who should not have to address your violence. It is your problem.
Silence is assent tane ma.”
Most of the people who read this blog are men. How do you feel about that?
I reject it. As an individualist, I reject it on principle. This is yet another manifestation of a collective ‘ism’ – sexism. How can racism be so wrong but sexism OK?
The vast majority of men are not violent.
So why by virtue of your gender must you own the problem? Worse, this clarion call that “Silence is Assent” is a form of bullying, guilt-tripping and emotional coercion.
Shame on Agnes Loheni.
I understand how utterly devastating it is to imagine that child trying to defend his mother but her response is way off the mark.
Update on Loheni’s clarion call:
On Thursday Fellow National MP Alfred Ngaro says,
“Yesterday after discussing the story of the murder of Crystal Lee Selwyn with my colleague Agnes Loheni, she turned to me and asked ‘what are you going to do about it?’”
“This is a truly confronting issue we face in our country and sadly this is not the first time one of our mothers has been lost to domestic violence.
“I’m calling on all men to rise up and march against the continuing violence we perpetuate against our wahine.
“Men need to own this issue. We need to take the burden of addressing male violence off women who are currently shouldering this unfair load.
“Over the next few days I will be organising a day where we men can come out in our thousands to stand in solidarity with our women, our daughters, sisters, and mothers.
“It is time to take back the space for women to live safely and free from the fear of us.”
Goes from bad to worse. What ridiculous rhetoric.
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