Tears flow at vigil for Grace
Hundreds of people gathered at New Plymouth’s Puke Ariki landing for a candlelight vigil for Grace Millane on Wednesday.
The event organised by Emma Helleur, Anneka Carlson and Steph Crean attracted a crowd of men, women, family groups, young and old who all gathered on the grassed area to listen to speeches and come together to make a stand against violence by men towards women.
Photos of Grace Millane and flowers were placed in front of where the speakers stood.
Helleur said the statistics in New Zealand showed there was a horrific trend of violence against women in the country.
‘‘The big message of the night is not about Grace but it’s about the women and there has been too many of them.’’
Carlson was happy to see so many men had attended.
‘‘I think it’s really important. ‘‘It’s so great to see the community just turn out and stand up for change.’’
She called on the men to raise sons who were compassionate, kind and respectful rather than tough and heartless.
Shaan Hauraro, of Man Up, led a haka after the speeches.
Hauraro said the group, whose motto was Raising fathers to Save our children, had saved him from continuing down the wrong path about two years ago.
‘‘I was wrecking my family, it was dysfunctional and out of order. I had a bad history of being in and out of prison and alcohol and drug abuse.’’
Hauraro also had a message for Grace’s family.
‘‘I’d like to tell them how much love and support they have from us.’’
Eleanor Wren, 20, who hailed from the same UK town as Grace but is now living in New Plymouth, sent her Grace’s family.
‘‘I’m so sorry that this has happened in our country,’’ Wren said.
Detective Sergeant David Beattie said the large turnout showed a shared embarrassment by New Zealanders for what had happened.
‘‘This is not the New Zealand blessings to that we like to see,’’ said Beattie, who is the police family harm team supervisor. He called on the crowd to start taking action to address the problem.
‘‘It’s no longer adequate for people to say that they are not violent, more is needed to be done to keep women safe. Stand up together and say this is not OK.’’
In a poem Crean said she dreamed of a nation called New Zealand where men and women were no longer rivals and it had the lowest rates of violence, murder and suicide in the world.
She wanted to create an environment where families were proud to call home.
‘‘A nation called New Zealand, where people can say it’s time to make a change.’’
Helping to bring the vigil to an end, singer and songwriter Juliet McLean asked the crowd to join her in a rendition of Amazing Grace.
The vigil was brought to a close by Helleur, who had one final message for those who had attended.
‘‘Let’s go home and love our friends and wha¯ nau.’’