Kia ora one. Kia ora all.

Despite the progress made with the petition, there was unfortunately last night, still a reminder that Destiny Church remain unbowed by the pushback of the many people rightfully angry with their behaviour in public. As the Poneke/Wellington Pride Parade got underway, a group of Man-Up activists tried to block the parade route by performing a makeshift haka, which was quickly stalled by the Police.

Officially, Man Up is a 10 week personal empowerment programme run by Destiny Church to help men from broken backgrounds to reconnect with their families and communities. I am told that Man-Up consists of men who have been convicted of being violent to their partners. Man up is - according to Destiny Church - a group of men who are being shown a way forward in life, other than violence.

However Womens Refuge and like minded agencies are concerned that Man Up is not about opening up to change, but rather men "hardening up" and not accepting the consequences of their actions. They point to the complete lack of transparency among Man-Up management, and acccountability for their actions. 

So, although I am approaching Dr Duncan Webb, Labour M.P. for Christchurch Central on Monday to see about handing over a 15,000+ strong petition, for the meantime the show must go on - the more signature, the more conversations, sharing of the petition and most importantly the gathering of signatures, needs to continue.

I will update sometime next week, once I have established contact with Duncan Webb.

In solidarity,

Rob