Tertiary Women New Zealand Demand Action on Misogynistic Cover

Massey Wellington’s student paper MASSIVE may have hidden their sexually violent cover, but Tertiary Women New Zealand are asking what is going to happen to ensure that such harmful imagery never gets produced in the first place.

Tertiary Women New Zealand’s National Women’s Rights Officer, Izzy O’Neill, and National Gender Equity Officer, Ella Cartwright, say that after ongoing issues in 2015, they are appalled that MASSIVE magazine continues to publish harmful content about women. They urge a long-term, solution-focused commitment to ongoing content issues. “We see this as an issue with the culture at the Massey Wellington campus,” they say.

“We feel strongly that sex workers have a right to pursue their economic freedom with dignity and independence,” Cartwright clarifies. “Our issue is not at all that sex work was covered in the issue or referenced in the cover.”

MASSIVE say that the serious topic warranted a cover of this nature, but Cartwright and O’Neill reject this interpretation. “The issue deserved a cover that was responsible and respectful towards students doing sex work, not one that sensationalises the issue, objectifies the workers and ultimately contributes to a culture of stigma,” says Cartwright.

New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective spokesperson Ahi Wi-Hongi agrees with Cartwright and O’Neill, saying, ''The picture is not an accurate reflection of sex workers who are also students. An accurate picture might be a woman in her lecture theatre with a bag of books, spare clothes and condoms.''

''Are we allowed to have the sex worker holding the client's hair?'' says one student sex worker, doing the job to pay school fees. “This picture is not showing that I'm in control."

The Media Advisory Board Panel is one system student magazines can use to respond to complaints, but Cartwright and O’Neill maintain it is not a sufficient solution to MASSIVE’s ongoing issues with its content.

“The Media Advisory Board Panel needs to be coupled with a system that actively prevents harmful images and content being published in the first place,” says O’Neill.

O’Neill suggested that professional development for MASSIVE should be undertaken with sexual violence support organisations, giving them tools to self-identify problematic material. “This would be a responsible move forward for the magazine,” she noted.

“We have been contacted by a number of organisations who work in the sexual violence sector as a result of this recent publication, and we have our own expertise in these areas. MASSIVE needs to reach out to these groups, and to us.”

Tertiary Women New Zealand also see a clear onus of responsibility on the Massey At Wellington Students’ Association (MAWSA) and Massey University. Cartwright says, “MASSIVE is owned and published by MAWSA and it is funded through a fee collected and controlled by Massey University, so they both have a responsibility to be accountable to students.”

“For MAWSA or the University to say that they have no say in determining the safety of their students is a failure of leadership,” adds O’Neill. “Institutions, and especially students’ associations, should be actively trying to foster a campus climate where students feel safe and respected; where they can pursue their studies with dignity; where misogyny is intolerable.”

O’Neill commented that if this wasn’t already a value of the University that “this is a clear opportunity for the people with the power to influence, educate and advocate for better campus cultures and to step up and take action now.”

O’Neill and Cartwright are calling out MAWSA President Tom Pringle, MASSIVE editor Carwyn Walsh, and Massey Vice Chancellor Steve Maharey personally, to initiate changes that will ensure this never happens again.

Massey Univerity Students’ Association Palmerston North (MUSA) President Nikita Skipper and her executive say that they agree with TWNZ. They “believe student media should be challenging and thought-provoking” but that it should only do so without further stigmatising, “discriminating against, or objectifying already persecuted or minority groups”.

Cartwright and O’Neill hope that TWNZ’s national campaign, Thursdays in Black, can be used to foster productive discussion about issues such as these in student communities.

The Thursdays in Black Aotearoa Facebook page can be found here

Tertiary Women New Zealand is the women’s caucus of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations.

ENDS

© Scoop Media