KEY POINTS:
Film stars, sports people, mayoral aspirants and members of the public today gathered outside the hospital where Nia Glassie died last Friday and observed a three-minute silence in protest against child abuse.
About 70 people gathered at Auckland's Starship Hospital at 12.12pm to mark the silence called for
by Family First NZ, For the Sake of Our Children Trust, and the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
People stopped in the streets of Christchurch and Wellington and traffic was halted on two lanes of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, when two motorists stopped to join the protest.
At Starship, Whale Rider star Keisha Castle-Hughes, who had a baby three and a half months ago, said the three-minute protest was "for New Zealanders to stand up and say, Yes we do care."
"As a mother, you want to do everything you can to protect your child, so I hope that this little thing we have done here today will start to make a difference," she said.
Actress Greer Robson, carrying two-year-old daughter Sienna, called for "a shift from viewing the child as a parent's possession to saying it's the community's responsibility".
Soccer star Wynton Rufer, the father of two children aged 15 and 11, said that as a husband for the past 21 years he wanted to "show that we live in families".
"Hopefully we can encourage other people to do the same," he said.
"Being part-Maori myself from my mother's side, I have a bit of an understanding about this sort of stuff."
Laura Burns, a 22-year-old office administrator from Hillsborough, painted a placard reading "Child abusers are scum".
"That's what I believe," she said. "I think they need tougher sentences and more awareness of who they are where they are, and once that [abuse] has happened to a child, the child should be placed in a safer home."
The two city bound clip-on lanes of Auckland's Harbour Bridge were blocked by motorists joining the protest.
Lobby group For the Sake of Our Children had said it hoped people would come out of their offices and step out of their cars to take part and reflect on what they could do to stop child abuse.
A Herald reporter said traffic in the two Harbour Bridge lanes was banked behind the two vehicles.
Chief executive of For the Sake of Our Children, Christine Rankin, earlier said drivers should feel free to stop their cars wherever they were to mark the silence.
"If they have the courage and they stop wherever they really are at that time then that is fantastic, go for it."
However, Transit New Zealand warned against such a move, saying it was dangerous, against the law and not terribly sensible.
The intersection of Victoria and Queen Street in Auckland's inner city was buzzing with lunch time traffic as usual at 12.12pm.
But shortly after 12.12pm, 20-30 people had gathered outside the ANZ Bank.
David Lyons, who worked nearby, said the cause was a good one.
"There's been a public outcry and it's not the first time this has happened," Mr Lyons said.
He said reflecting on child abuse was a public step "for the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow".
In Christchurch, less than a dozen stood in Cathedral Square in the heart of the city to mark the three minutes of silence, while small groups gathered outside central city offices.
Social worker Trish Garland, who was in the square, said she was disgusted at the lack of turnout.
"I accept that standing around in a public place may not do much for the children that are being abused but.....we are very quick to blame services or families. Everyone has to take a stand."
Jessica Stringer, 24, was also disappointed she was among a small minority.
"I don't know what it would take for people to come together again."
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said the protest was a success.
He spoke to an audience of about 130 people at a Hamilton church, before everyone went outside to observe the silence.
"A lot of what we set out to achieve had been achieved before today - to put pressure on the political arena to come up with a plan of action," Mr McVicar said.
He said politicians were now talking about deterrent sentences and he expected an urgent bill on the issue to appear before Parliament shortly.
"The deterrent sentences are not a long-term answer but it's all we can do immediately."
Such sentences had worked to discourage drink-driving, and they would work to cut rates of child abuse too, Mr McVicar said.
A Maori group earlier said the planned silence sent out the wrong message - because child abuse was something to be discussed, not kept quiet.
Allies of Whanau of Aotearoa (Awa) had urged people to make some noise instead.
Spokesman Te Kanikani Tautoko said: "Silence on the issue sends out the wrong message," said. "It's something we need to be discussing as opposed to not saying anything."
The call for silence and Awa campaigns follow the death of Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie on Friday.
The 3-year-old died in Auckland's Starship hospital after weeks of horrific abuse, allegedly at the hands of her extended family.
Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said the three minutes represented "the three short years" of Nia's life, and the time mirrored the 12 children who died from child abuse each year in New Zealand.
But Awa said engaging in korero (talk) and singing songs was a more appropriate approach.
"The silence proposed by a coalition of non-Maori organisations is counter-productive," Mr Tautoko said.
Awa is advocating "whanau-based solutions" to violence in Maori communities and said people who made noise would send a clearer message of support to those communities.
"We have had many non-Maori broadcasting what they think is wrong with Maori people and whanau in the last week," Mr Tautoko said.
"While we appreciate their concern, non-Maori need to recognise the following fundamentals: this is not a Maori problem, so much as it is a colonisation problem, and Maori communities must lead the development of solutions."
He said another main aim of Awa's campaign was to acknowledge the grief and pain of Nia's family, and he urged people to sing waiata tautoko (songs of support) and play taonga puoro (Maori instruments) for them.
But while organisers on both sides are hoping for a strong, nationwide response, the campaigns may be impotent if the talkback radio response is anything to go by.
"I'm sure there will be talk about it [today], but nothing overwhelming on air [yesterday]," said Radio Live producer Jeremy Parkinson.
NewstalkZB station boss Bill Frances said the station had had a one-hour debate about the silent vigil on Monday.
"We had about 50:50 split as to its merit. The main thing people agreed with was that it could be good for schools and children to be able to contemplate what it [child abuse] meant."
Ms Rankin said there had been a positive response to publicity about the protest.
"We have not had one call from anyone saying this is a bad idea," she said.
"We're hoping it does [have an impact]. If it doesn't, then I feel New Zealand is lost.
"If we don't care enough to take that three minutes at the beginning of a lunch hour then I will despair."
Mr McCoskrie said the organisers would hold their vigil outside Starship hospital.
He said New Zealanders had been too caught up in pointing fingers and it was time for people to take responsibility.
"If [the vigil] changes people's thoughts from 'Who's going to solve the problem?' to 'How am I going to solve the problem?' then that could be the tipping point," he said.
"This is not a male-female problem, it's not a Maori problem, it's all our problem."
Practical ways people could help stem child abuse included volunteering time or resources to community groups working with at-risk families.
People could also try to recognise families who weren't coping, or mothers who needed a break.
- additional reporting Newstalk ZB and NZHerald staff
