‘Wrong’ to boot sexual consent sign from park
New Zealand Cricket and Westpac Stadium have admitted they were wrong to remove a banner promoting sexual consent during a Twenty20 cricket international in Wellington.
The banner, which read: ‘‘No means no’’, was being displayed by a member of the crowd at the double-header between the New Zealand men’s and women’s teams and India on Wednesday night when security staff asked for it to be handed over.
The sign was directed at Black Cap Scott Kuggeleijn, who was found not guilty of rape following a jury trial in 2017 and was subsequently selected for the national side.
Kuggeleijn toured Ireland with the Black Caps a few months after the trial, but the issue started to gain more traction when he made his first home appearance for the side in the one-off T20 against Sri Lanka in Auckland in January, and it flared up again in Wellington on Wednesday.
The woman who was holding up the sign told Stuff she was escorted from her seat by security who attempted to confiscate the sign.
‘‘My friends and I were surrounded by multiple security guards. It was a very uncomfortable experience.’’
Yesterday she met with representatives of Westpac Stadium who offered an unreserved apology.
‘‘They acknowledge they didn’t do the right thing in this instance and are committed to ensuring it won’t happen in future.
‘‘I’m really heartened by how responsive they’ve been and hope everyone can have a fun, safe time at cricket in the Cake Tin in future,’’ she said.
‘‘No means no, and that’s a message everyone should be able to stand by.’’
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) public affairs manager Richard Boock said the decision to remove the banner was made jointly with stadium staff because of NZC’s policy that prohibits signage targeting an individual player.
The woman involved was asked to hand over the sign and collect it after the match.
‘‘We agree the course taken was an over-reaction and unnecessary, and the sign certainly wasn’t offensive,’’ Boock said.
‘‘The policy is a guideline only and is not written in stone. I think, on this occasion, we should have shown better judgment and exercised more discretion.
‘‘We’ll be having a chat about it in our debrief with a view to making sure that doesn’t happen again, and we’re sorry.’’
The ‘‘no means no’’ banner was removed from the crowd despite similar messaging being displayed on signage in other parts of the stadium in the form of the police’s ‘‘Don’t Guess the Yes’’ campaign.
Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon said the decision to remove the ‘‘no means no’’ banner was wrong.
‘‘Over the course of a cricket match there are hundreds of decisions made in a control room,’’ he said.
‘‘However, in hindsight, this was an over-reaction and we should not have taken that course of action.’’
Kuggeleijn faced two rape trials in 2016 and 2017, charged with raping a woman in a Hamilton East flat in 2015. The first trial resulted in a hung jury, and the second found him not guilty.