stop demand

A call for action to
stop sexual violence against
women and children.

Media Release 25 October 2007

Men needed to step up to the mark and tackle sexual violence

Stop Demand Foundation, which calls for action to stop sexual violence against women and children, says the latest study confirming disturbing levels of child sexual abuse challenges us to ‘re-think’ our past strategies in dealing with issues around sexual violence.

Stop Demand calls for a fresh approach towards tackling sexual violence and says it is time for men to step up to the mark. Founder Denise Ritchie says, “For decades the tireless and admirable work of providing services and identifying, exposing and challenging issues around sexual violence has rested primarily on women and women’s groups. In doing so, sexual violence has for too long being positioned inappropriately as a ‘women’s issue’ or a ‘children’s issue’ when in fact it is overwhelmingly a men’s issue. Sexual violence must be handed back to where it collectively belongs – to the men in our community – for men to step up to the mark, take ownership of the problem and seek solutions as a matter of priority.”

Stop Demand also calls for recognition that sexual violence does not take place in a vacuum. “The suggestion of ‘outing’ perpetrators is only a partial solution and fails to recognise that sexual violence is underpinned by a host of attitudes and beliefs that prevail within our society,” says Denise Ritchie. “These attitudes and beliefs are commonly found within male banter and ‘locker-room’ talk, much sought-after pornography that is misogynistic in nature, and is supported and sustained by various male-dominated institutions that need to be exposed.”

Stop Demand points to one such example being The Radio Network’s recent defence before the Broadcasting Standards Authority of a Radio Sport bestiality sound track which conveyed sounds of a bull having sex with a woman to represent a rugby match. TRN argued that the bestiality clip did not breach standards of good taste and decency because it catered for a ‘male target audience’. Denise Ritchie says, “It is precisely these types of attitudes, frequently held and fostered by men in positions of power, that seek to privilege men sexually at the expense of women and children, that must be challenged if we really want to see positive long-term change. We must work towards a tipping point where it becomes UN-masculine for men and male-dominated institutions to foster or trivialise sexually exploitative attitudes and behaviours that feed and fuel sexual violence. Strategically, it requires exceptional men to step up to the mark, challenge other men and collectively work to turn the tide of unacceptable sexual violence that blights this country and shatters the quality of life for many women and children.”

Further disturbing statistics:

- A 2006 Treasury working paper estimated the economic cost of sexual violence in New Zealand in the 2003/04 fiscal year to be $1.2 billion, across an estimated 16,500 sex offences. The loss of quality of life for victims/survivors was estimated at $827 million.

- Government statistics over the past 15 years show that of a total 29,760 sex crime convictions, 78% involved child victims (16 years and younger), with most victims being 11 years and younger.

ENDS

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