Kelvin Davis walking the talk

Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis is converting last year's election campaign promises into action.

Mr Davis, who devoted much of his campaign to talk of eliminating sexual violence, will lead a 440km cross-party hkoi from one end of his electorate to the other to raise awareness of the scourge of sexual violence.

"Women have in the main had to carry the burden of sexual violence on their own for too long," he said.

"The only men's group I know of that speaks out about sexual violence is Male Survivors of Sexual Assault,' and these brave men and women need the support of other men.

"The greatest enabler of sexual violence is silence, and marching under the banner of Men Against Sexual Violence (MASSIVE) is aimed at encouraging more men to speak out."

The 17-day hkoi, starting in West Auckland on May 29, would be a multi-party collaboration that demonstrated the seriousness with which all parliamentarians viewed the issue of sexual violence, and their desire to raise awareness of it. MPs from all parties would join in where and when they could.

And while he was organising the hkoi, Mr Davis was wary of being labelled the spokesman for MASSIVE.

"Any man who commits to the elimination of sexual violence is a spokesman for the cause," he said.

"None of our material or logos are registered trademarks. If there are blokes in any town in New Zealand who want to use our material to encourage men to speak out against sexual violence, they are welcome to it. The elimination of sexual violence is the issue, not personalities.

"MASSIVE is simply a rallying cry for any man who opposes sexual violence, against anybody, in any shape or form, be it verbal or physical."