A street march in Kaikohe took a dark subject out of the shadows in a major step toward shedding light on the problem of sexual violence.
The 60 to 70 marchers represented perpetrators of sexual crimes, their victims, help groups and "the silent majority", or the greater population whose lack of action enabled the problem to continue and remain hidden, organisers said.
The participants, including several on motorcycles, made a powerful statement in the town's main thoroughfare on Thursday morning. Several people stepped off the footpath to join in. At the end of the march addresses to the crowd included speakers who are victims of sexual violence. Many people were visibly moved by the speeches.
The march and a public meeting that evening were early steps in a campaign calling for men to stand up and make changes to ensure their whanau and communities were safe from sexual violence.
Over the next six months, as well as education programmes aimed at changing a culture where sexual violence can occur, strategies that will be developed include creating a community help agency list and "safe telephone trees". It will also focus on enabling men who have carried out sexual crime, or who fear they might, to come forward and seek help, Mike Shaw said.