January 25, 2024
Youngest MP counting on community to fend off trolls
New Zealand’s youngest MP, Te Pāti Māori’s Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke says she knows how to defend herself from online hatred directed at women of colour.
Her predecessor in Hauraki Waikato, Nanaia Mahuta, Kiritapu Allen and former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman were subject to relentless online attacks.
Ms Maipi-Clarke says it’s a problem wāhine MPs face not only on-line but in non-Māori spaces all over Aotearoa.
She won’t let it faze her.
“For me being it’s owning who I am and if you don’t like it, well, that’s your problem because kāore au kite, I won’t come down to your level because I’ve seen it throughout my whole campaign – and having a strong community force behind us, like going to these kaupapa makes us stronger,” she says.