Men are slammed for greeting women with unwanted pecks on the cheek and told they must learn to wait until they deliberately tilt their head – after outcry over public kiss on Leigh Sales
- Former New South Wales minister Pru Goward has slammed unwanted kisses
- She weighed into ABC host Leigh Sales receiving a kiss on lips at charity dinner
- Ms Goward argued girls needed to be taught they had the right to refuse a kiss
- Grandmother held prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault portfolios
- Now 67, Ms Goward was previously the federal sex discrimination commissioner
Australian men who give women unwanted kisses on the cheek are being put on notice, after ABC host Leigh Sales received a rather sleazy greeting at a charity dinner.
Pru Goward, a former New South Wales Liberal minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, has declared it was 'time for Australia to talk about kissing. Unwanted, unwarranted kissing, that is'.
The former sex discrimination commissioner and ABC journalist weighed into the traditional greeting after Sales spoke out about retired business Phil Newman turning his cheek on stage on Saturday, which caused their lips to meet.
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Australian men who give women unwanted kisses on the cheek are being put on notice, after ABC Leigh Sales received a rather sleazy greeting at a charity dinner
Ms Goward, the mother of former model Tziporah Malkah, weighed into that episode with a column in The Sydney Morning Herald arguing girls needed to be taught they had the right to refuse a kiss.
'Not just of women, but of little girls too,' she said.
'The kissing game must stop. This is a peculiarly Australian masculine manoeuvre.'
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Ms Goward doubled down on Thursday, asking Sky News presenter Tom Connell how he would feel if he was the recipient of an unwanted kiss.
'Do you want to be kissed? If you don't want to be kissed, you don't have to be kissed,' she said.
The 67-year-old grandmother said she had taught her eight-year-old granddaughter that she too had the right to refuse a kiss.
Pru Goward, a former New South Wales Liberal minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, has declared it was 'time for Australia to talk about kissing. Unwanted, unwarranted kissing, that is'
'You have to teach girls agency. They're not born as confident as boys, particularly about their own space,' she said.
'And you need to be able to say to them quite early on, you don't have to be kissed.
'We've changed the rules in our family.
'I've got an eight-year-old granddaughter which I would once have automatically scooped up and kissed.'
When it came to Sales, Ms Goward said: 'She should be asked if she wants to be kissed.'
One Nation's NSW leader Mark Latham described Ms Goward's suggestion as 'scary, weirdo, Big Brother stuff' during a Twitter spat with Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins who said 'unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering and kissing' was the fourth most common type of sexual harassment in Australia.
One Nation's NSW leader Mark Latham described Ms Goward's suggestion as 'scary, weirdo, Big Brother stuff' during a Twitter spat with Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins who said 'unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering and kissing' as the fourth most common type of sexual harassment in Australia
On Saturday, Sales - a separated 46-year-old mother-of-two - said she felt 'offended and angered' by the stunt in front of 200 people at the $250-a-head dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.
The 7.30 program presenter approached the microphone and said 'hashtag me too' before composing herself.
She told The Guardian how Mr Newman then approached her again later in the evening and offered his cheek for another kiss, to which he was told off for.
'I was offended and angered by the incident on Saturday night. I had strong words to the man involved, he apologised and I accepted that apology. That should be the end of it as far as I'm concerned,' she said.
Sales isn't against the idea of giving a man a peck on the cheek, if she is asked.
Less than two years ago, Sales gave Sir Paul McCartney a consensual hug and a kiss after she was starstruck at interviewing the former leader singer of The Beatles in Perth.
'Wow,' Sir Paul said in response to Sales. 'Thank you. Give us a kiss.'
Less than two years ago, Sales gave Sir Paul McCartney a consensual hug and a kiss after she was starstruck at interviewing the former leader singer of The Beatles in Perth
