Recently, Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, a young woman who attended the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne, New Zealand, was sexually assaulted on video. After her assault, she fought back, and from there has continued to tell her side and thoughts on the situation.
Along with many attendees, she wore festival attire; her festival look of choice was glitter on her breasts and a skirt. She had had the glitter makeup applied at the festival by a vendor working the event, which claimed to have adorned about 40 others as well.
In the video, Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller and her friend Kiri-Ann Hatfield are seen walking through the festival when a man comes up behind her, grabs her breast, and runs away. Anello-Kitzmiller and her friend then immediately turn and walk back to the man, and her friend dumps her drink on him, and Anello-Kitzmiller hits him four times. When asked to comment, she directed us to her response video on her Facebook.
Recently there has been a lot of talk in the media about consent and sexual assault, and this video continues to fuel the conversation. As we continued to look into the story and people’s comments, there are some who still have the idea that people ask to be assaulted by their behavior or what they are wearing. We cannot state enough times or loudly enough how wrong this viewpoint is. But there are many people supporting the rights of the victim, and we have stand behind them.
What are your thoughts on how the situation should have been handled?
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