Tauawhi (Maori) to hug, embrace, support (one another)

Tauawhi Men’s Centre is located in Gisborne and its co-ordinator Tim Marshall has announced via STUFF NATION their intention to hold a hui – a hui promoting a men’s response to violence in Aotearoa.

When I first read the headline ‘a movement of men against violence’ I took it to be an initiative against the rising violence in New Zealand society, but on checking I was naturally disappointed to find a localised version of White Ribbon.

A Call To Men: Be the Change Hui, promoting a mens response to violence in Aotearoa, will be held on September 12-14.

And even more disappointed to find the same tired by-line (Miss statistics being the author of domestic violence reporting).

Statistical evidence shows most family violence is perpetrated by men against women.

Marshall goes on to say:

While no one will argue that we don’t need to strengthen safety measures for victims, if we continue to ignore the need to better address the behaviour of those who perpetrate it, we will see no real change.

This is what we can agree on – we won’t see any real change in domestic violence until we address women’s violence against their partners – but of course that is not what he meant.

He’s proposing we take a few domestic-violence lab-rats and experiment with some long term re-programming.

Good luck with that, while we watch the deteriorating nature of women’s violence grace the courts of the country on a more frequent basis.

Tim Marshall has responded in the comments below and provided a link to their website.

We now find that this was also the National Hui for White Ribbon.