Media Release 13 November 2013

‘Zonta says No’ to Roast Busters

The sexual violence of women and girls is endemic in New Zealand and this has been blatantly brought to our attention over the past week with the exposure of the ‘roast busters’. These young men are not only sexual predators of underage girls, but they have the audacity to brag about their experiences in social media.

Zonta International New Zealand’s Governor Maureen Heine states “sex with underage girls is illegal and these young men need to be held accountable for their actions. What I personally find abhorrent is that they did not show any remorse for their actions until they were exposed.”

Whilst this behaviour has caused outrage throughout New Zealand, we cannot be too appalled. We have a society that condones the sexualisation of women and young girls and these men are a product of our society. So what are we doing about it?

Zonta International members throughout the world are prepared to stand up and be counted. Our global campaign Zonta says No – end violence against women starts on the 25 November 2013 and will run through the 16 days of activism against gender violence until 10 December 2013. Members throughout New Zealand will be visible in their communities exposing the atrocious statistics our country has on violence against women and girls, and communicating the safe environs that are available to them.

‘Zonta says No’ to violence in ANY form against women and girls.
Zonta International is a global service organization with over 30,000 members in 66 countries drawn from business and the professions committed to improving the status of women through a combination of advocacy and service. There are approximately 670 members here in New Zealand.

ENDS

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