(This piece could be upsetting if you or someone you know has been the victim of violence.)
The story of the so-called “Roast Busters” continues to dominate the news media this week, and probably your social media too.
On Friday, the Police Commissioner told Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report that the inquiry has not progressed through inaction or lack of interest.
Peter Marshall said a formal complaint made two years ago was thoroughly investigated and dealt with, but that another three girls, aged between 13 and 15, who came forward to report assaults since then did not want to make formal complaints.
Marshall said that was understandable, and that the parents of two of the young women did not want their daughters to go through the police process and asked for space to deal with what had happened.
(As we discussed earlier in the week, most instances of sexual violence don’t get reported, much less result in a prosecution; here’s one woman’s account of reporting her assault to police, Anne Russell has posted a thoughtful discussion of “Roast Busters and criminality” over on Scoop.co.nz.)
Nine to Noon’s Kathryn Ryan spoke to a young woman about the difficulty of coming forward after being sexually assaulted.
The young woman told the programme that this week’s discussion has brought home to her how much people don’t understand what consent actually is.
She says people don’t understand what effect it will have on a girl’s life.
Police Minister Anne Tolley has ordered an investigation into the way the investigation has been handled, and the situation has renewed calls for changes to the way victims of sexual violence are treated.
This morning, Morning Report’s Simon Mercep spoke to Marama Davidson, Kim McGregor and Russell Smith, and talked about what needs to be done to combat this kind of behaviour.
Meanwhile, advertisers including ANZ Bank, Yellow and Freeview are pulling their advertising from RadioLive in response to hosts John Tamihere and Willie Jackson’s treatment of caller "Amy", who said she was a friend of a victim of the group.
“It’s a textbook example of victim-blaming,” said former Wellington Young Feminists’ Collective admin Fi McNamara in a podcast about the incident.
Commentator Matthew Hooton walked out of an interview with Tamihere and Jackson after their discussion of the Roast Busters case escalated into an argument when Hooton confronted them about their treatment of "Amy".
The Wireless will have more in-depth pieces looking at reproductive and sexual health and education in a couple of weeks.
(And if you or someone you know needs help or support, there are services available.)
