I want to pay tribute to, and stand in solidarity with, Kristin Dunne-Powell.
I had a rant about the media, and the coverage, but I've decided the only voice that is important in all this is hers. Her victim impact statement was in the Herald, and on Thursday she did an interview with John Campbell. In both she explains things she should not have to explain, and makes the reality of abusive relationships clear.
I imagine the Sunday papers tomorrow are going to be horrific. I don't think I'll read them or write about them. I don't want to know what the victim blamers are saying. Women who are abused by powerful men get every piece of misogyny, victim-blaming, and abuse apologism thrown at them from so many channels. I thought it was really powerful that Kristin Dunne-Powell approached Louise Nicholas for support.
I also want to remind people that very few women in abusive relationships have the resources that Kristin Dunne-Powell does. Money doesn't protect women from abusive relationships, but it does remove one of the barriers to leaving. Consider donating to women's refuge.
18 comments:
She is also guilty of domestic abuse herself.
Anon, I don't know of any evidence to support this - but even if it's true, she didn't smash anyone's spine, did she?
anna the agreed evidence (agreed between both prosecution & defence therefore it did happen!) in court that kirsten invaded tony,s privacy wouldnt leave his home and was berating and verbaly abusing him for hours.
Verbal abuse is domestic abuse, even if it comes from a woman and is directed at her ex.
Consider donating to your LOCAL women's refuge, which you can find in the phone book.
Verbal abuse is domestic abuse, even if it comes from a woman and is directed at her ex.And no verbal abuse justifies pushing someone to the floor and kicking them so hard you break their back. Bad relationships are usually at the door of both parties. Physical abuse is at the door of the abuser. Enough with the victim-blaming.
Lucy I didnt say verbal abuse justifies physical abuse..... however verbal abuse can be and is as damaging as physical abuse....unfotunately we cant look inside the head and see the damage.
And no verbal abuse justifies pushing someone to the floor and kicking them so hard you break their back.Nobody ever claimed what he did was justified.
Isn't there some middle ground between treating the victim as somebody who has done no wrong and somebody who has brought everything on themselves?
OK, perhaps this is not the right place to bring up the bad things Dunne-Powell has done. But the fact that she was attacked herself doesn't mean that any mention of them is victim blaming.
Vietch has to take responsibility for his violent actions. He was quite capable of calling the police and issuing a trespass notice to D-P. There was _not_ justification for breaking her back. None. Zip. Nada.
People push other people's buttons all the time. As a mother of four rambunctious sons I get my buttons pushed too, but violently hurting my children would not be justified just because I was at the end of my tether.
Vietch has shown no repentance for his actions and until he does he won't be able to move on because he has to accept that what he did was wrong.
I think she has more than held her own in stark contrast to his mad interviews. I, too, wonder how horrific the papers will turn out tomorrow, and also offer my solidarity to Kristin.
I hope someone locks Tony up/down short term for his own safety.
"What more could I have done?" Hmmmm, not demanding that it remained confidential in return for paying for the damage he did would have been a good start from where I'm sitting. But, y'know, to expect him to actually take responsibility for his actions? That must be nonsense talk, surely :/.
I truly hope Ms. Dunne Powell is able to get on with her life as best she can, and in a way that suits her. Goodness only knows, she's been through quite enough.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2345075/Veitch-answers-accusers/
I think enough is enough. let the guy get on with his life.
Dave, 'Team Veitch' have spent the last few months using a private investigator, amongst other things, to discredit Dunne-Powell in the hope of a lighter sentence. She is disfigured, and can't work or even live in her own country. She can't just 'get on with her life'.
Veitch is upset because his own actions, which he's unrepentant about, have interfered with his ability to earn half a million per year.
I know which one I have greater sympathy for.
I'm on the side of thinking Vietch is totally and utterly guilty. But it is so sick that the media keep reporting on his suicide attempts. They can hold him to account for his actions, but now they are just trying to kill him. HOS has just got to stop.
Anna, I was refering to the story regarding Veitch attempting yet again to take his own life. While I can appreciate your own feelings towards domestic abuse this matter has now been delt with my the courts. It is now time for both parties involved to get on with their lives not just for their sake but also for the sake of their loved ones.
Veitch is VERY unwell and he appears to be getting worse rather than better. Whatever you think about Veitch he still has a wife, a mother, a father and other family and friends who right now must be sick with worry and fear about what is going to happen to him.
As for Vietch being unrepentant, read the following. This article suggests someone who is repentant and also someone who is showing signs of being unwell. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2345135/Read-Veitchs-email-to-Dunne-Powell
The next one suggests that Dunne-Powell was recovering quite nicely, so much so that she wanted to apply for a job where she would be working with Veitch. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2345136/Kristin-applied-for-Veitch-job-after-attack
There are more twists and turns to this story than any day time soap opera. Under normal circumstances picking it apart may be fun for some people, however considering veitch's health it is probably time to let this matter drop. If not for his sake than for the sake of his wife and his parents who must be distraught. I would also guess that Dunne-Powell is also deeply concerned about Veitch.
As I said in my earlier post, enough is enough, let these people get their lives back together.
But it is so sick that the media keep reporting on his suicide attempts. He's ringing them himself, begging them to publish things. Of course, if they had any standards they'd tell him to put the cellphone away, because he is clearly losing it.
David, you're right in that no one should have their health compromised by the media. Veitch has been courting the media, though, and using it in the hope of cultivating sympathy to reduce his sentence, so he has to a great extent made a rod for his own back. Ringing the Herald shortly after his suicide attempt yesterday was hardly going to get the media off his case (although an ethical media wouldn't have reported on this).
I didn't see the email Veitch released as being particularly repentant - it thanked Dunne-Powell for protecting his career, which I find cynical. And his affection for her lasted only so long as she was prepared to hide his crime from the public - he's spent the last few months digging dirt to discredit her, which must have been incredibly distressing for someone recovering from a spinal injury. These aren't the actions of a person who's sorry.
In an interview he gave immediately after his trial, he complained that she said he was a good guy in 2006 (after the attack) but had then changed her mind. It seems to me that if he had any insight into the effects of violence on a woman, he wouldn't have kept insisting on how hard this experience has been for him. His career has been his foremost thought throughout this whole thing. You'd think that, if he was really sorry, he would have made amends in a way that was meaningful to Dunne-Powell, not just convenient to him.
It certainly looks to me as though the guy is unwell - he should get the same compassion and treatment that anyone else would get, and he shouldn't be badgered by the media. But he seems to think the public should overlook the seriousness of what he's done because he's having a tough time, and he should just go on with celebrity life as usual as if nothing of any moral consequence has happened. Basically, the guy thinks life's unfair because now that people know he committed a dreadful act of violence they don't like him so much. He just doesn't register the seriousness and absolute repugnance of what he's done.
And once again, we're debating Veitch at the end of a post about his victim. That's been typical of this whole case.
I don't know what to make of all this now. Veitch's actions were inexcusable, I'm clear about that. The assault on his former partner was horrendous and his actions since have lacked responsibility or remorse. He may be remorseful, but unfortunately his behaviour hasn't been consistent with genuine remorse. He may well now be at real personal risk. That's is very unfortunate, however it does appear he's partly responsible for his media-hounding and he should take steps to get away from them (and them from him). The difficulty of this situation is that the discussion of domestic violence is important for us all, but it could well be at the expense of Ms Dunne-Powell and Veitch himself (I appreciate that, even as a criminal, Veitch has rights). I guess what I'm trying to say is that any sympathy I might have to Veitch is severely tested by by my abhorence at his actions.
"anna the agreed evidence (agreed between both prosecution & defence therefore it did happen!)"
What you've said isn't in the agreed evidence at all. You've just made that up.
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