Women's groups and political leaders have rounded on Family First director Bob McCoskrie for refusing to wear a white ribbon today to oppose violence against women.
Auckland Women's Centre manager Leonie Morris said Family First should change its name to "Women's Safety Last" after Mr McCoskrie declared in the Herald this week that he would not wear a ribbon on White Ribbon Day because most domestic violence involved "violent couples who engage in mutual acts of aggression".
"This is a family violence issue, not a gender issue," he wrote.
Women's Refuge chief executive Heather Henare said she was surprised that Mr McCoskrie even considered wearing a white ribbon after he campaigned to legalise parents smacking their children. "It would have been an act of gross hypocrisy for Bob to make a public statement against violence."
National Party leader John Key declined to comment directly on Mr McCoskrie's stand, but soon after the Herald asked him about it yesterday he appeared in Hawera wearing a white ribbon. He said later in a written statement: "I'm an ambassador for White Ribbon Day because I believe family violence is simply not acceptable."
