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Female members of New Zealand’s parliament were forced out of a meeting by the Speaker on Wednesday, 11 November for claiming they had been victims of sexual assault.

Prime Minister John Key claimed the Labor and Green Party members “back the rapists,” referring to the MP’s protestations over how Kiwis, some of them violent criminals but others not, are being treated in a migrant-detention facility on the remote Christmas Island. Many have lived in Australia for years, but are currently facing deportation because of a change in Australian immigration policy.

Positioning himself on the supposed moral high ground, Key told later a Labor MP, “These are the people that the Labour party are saying are more important to support than New Zealanders who deserve protecting when they come back here,” adding in xenophobic fears, “If you want to put yourself on the side of sex offenders, go ahead my son, but we’ll defend New Zealanders.”

The women MPs stood up in protest, saying Key’s comments were offensive because they themselves were sexual assault victims. But Speaker David Carter continuously interrupted the women, calling for “order” and claiming they were “flouting the rules.” Demanding an apology from the prime minister, the MPs were kicked out of the chamber by Speaker Carter.

After leaving the chamber, the protesting MPs shared their stories with a New Zealand news show on TV3.

Co-leader of New Zealand’s Green Party, Metiria Turei said, “As a victim of sexual assault, I take personal offense to the prime minister’s comments and ask that you require him to withdraw and apologize.”

Elaborating in an op-ed for the Guardian on Thursday, 12 November, Turei wrote “Sexual violence is at epidemic levels in New Zealand and too many people suffer their pain in silence. It is normalized and joked about and “rape culture” is engrained in almost every aspect of our lives.”

She proposed the question of accountability, saying if her and fellow female MPs did not stand up against the outright culture of violence against women in the country, who would?

Green Party MP Jan Logie stated that “as a victim of sexual assault and as an advocate for survivors” she wants Key’s words to be taken out of the record.

Labour’s Poto Williams and Green’s Catherine Delahunty followed, though Delahunty’s microphone was turned off while she was recounting a personal incident of sexual assault.

New Zealand undoubtedly has a sexual assault and rape problem. According to a report by Rape Prevention Education, a New Zealand group that seeks to provide counseling and aid to victims of sexual assault and violence, “In Aotearoa New Zealand, up to one in three girls will be subject to an unwanted sexual experience by the age of 16 years. The majority of those incidences would be considered serious, with over 70% involving genital contact.”

The report further states the staggering statistic that in Aotearoa, one in five women will experience sexual assault as an adult.

Turei, in the same op-ed said that the walkout and protest on Wednesday was extremely necessary, in order for the issue not to be trivialized. “Rape is not a distraction. It is certainly not an abstraction for thousands of New Zealand men, women and children. It is not a political tool.”

The Guardian reported that 8 other female MPs walked out of the chamber, along with 4 male members of Parliament.

But despite the efforts of MPs, prime minster John Key has yet to apologize.