MP turns in marathon effort against abuse
MP Kelvin Davis has set off on the first of seven marathons in and around Kaitaia in seven days — despite never having walked one before.
It’s part of another appeal for an end to sexual violence.
The Te Tai Tokerau MP and five supporters left from Awanui School, just north of Kaitaia in the Far North, yesterday for the Seven7 hikoi.
The group will walk from the school into Kaitaia, then complete three laps of the town before returning to the school every day until and including Saturday.
Davis is inviting anyone who wants to join him, whether they walk, skateboard, cycle or scoot.
Last year Davis led a hikoi from the bottom of his electorate to the top in 16 days, also to encourage people to speak up about sexual violence.
But this time he is looking to gain a higher profile by sticking to the streets of his hometown.
Similar efforts are being made in Kaikohe and in Orakei (by Ngati Whatua). Davis hopes next year there will be five groups.
Sexual violence, he added, was a scourge that had to be addressed on an ongoing basis, as opposed to short-lived expressions of outrage in response to speci- fic incidents.
“What we’re doing is keeping it out there in a positive way,” said Davis, who said he had not trained for the seven-day walk. His advice to his fellow marathoners was not to overdo it, and to have fun.
The MP has walked two halfmarathons — the last one 10 years ago — but never a full one before.
But he said before he started that the pain he would endure on his walk would be nothing compared with that of a victim of sexual violence.
“My blisters will heal but the emotional harm that’s caused to people who survive sexual violence, it never goes.”
Davis said he hoped it would encourage people to speak out about sexual violence as “silence is the greatest enabler”.