TOAH-NNEST meets with US Vice-President Joe Biden

TOAH-NNEST meets with US Vice-President Joe Biden

United States of America, Vice-President Joe Biden is currently on a Pacific tour, visiting Aotearoa and attended a reception in Auckland last night hosted by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

Members from our organisation were graciously invited to attend. ‘’It was a surreal experience’’ Sandz Peipi, Kaitakawaenga said from Auckland this morning. Sandz and Louise Nicholas were privileged to meet Vice President Joe Biden in person and have time together to discuss with him TOAH-NNEST and members work as well as hear the Vice Presidents own reflections and his passion on standing against Sexual Violence.

Hon Biden is a spokesperson for the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign to end sexual assault on college campuses and encourage students to pledge to intervene as bystanders when they see actions where assault could occur. In June, Biden wrote an open letter to the woman sexually assaulted by Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who was sentenced to just six months in prison for the crime. He wrote telling her that the statement she read at her assailant’s sentencing is “forever seared on my soul.” “I am filled with furious anger—both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken that you were ever put in the position of defending your own worth,” he wrote. “It must have been wrenching—to relive what he did to you all over again. But you did it anyway, in the hope that your strength might prevent this crime from happening to someone else. Your bravery is breath-taking”

In an interview with The Washington Post, Biden took things a step further and suggested the federal government “take away their money” if any college fails to reform its policies and take a harder line against cases of sexual assault. “Now is the time to put the pedal to the medal,” the Vice President said, referring to the administration’s latest decision. Under the policy, President Barack Obama, Biden, their wives and members of the Cabinet will no longer visit higher education institutions where officials are deemed to be doing a poor job tackling the troubling frequency of reported sexual assaults, according to The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin. These moves are a series of dramatic steps employed by the White House to make it easier for victims to report the crime and for schools to regulate harm caused by perpetrators.

As a long standing politician, we admired his on-going dedication to end sexual violence, coupled with the commitment that the White House have made in advancing societal and cultural changes around sexual assault in recent years.

We wish to cordially thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for providing us the opportunity to meet such an influential and awe inspiring person.

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