Now about this consensual hugging thing…
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has removed a social media advertisement about consent featuring grandparents hugging their grandchildren.
The video depicted a young girl being uncomfortable receiving a hug from her grandparents…In the advertisement, a voiceover carries the message after the girl expresses discomfort at receiving a hug: “Not everyone wants a hug. Even from the people who love them.”
True, I suppose, but not really something to be managed by outsiders, surely? Wouldn’t the normal thing be behind the scenes conversations or squabbles between child and parents? “I hate it when Auntie Joan squeezes me!” The parent can say “too bad, deal with it” or “I’ll have a word with her” or something in between, because the parent knows the people involved. You see what I mean? The parent knows more about it than the state does – because the state in fact knows nothing at all about it.
The Department of Justice said “We-Consent” is a programme created and developed by the DRCC aimed at informing, educating and engaging the public about all forms of consent.
Which is not relevant to close relatives hugging the children of the broader family. If there has to be a legalistic conversation first then the whole damn point of familial hugging is lost. What is the point of non-parental family hugging the children of said family? To convey affection! Duh! If it becomes like a union meeting that point is lost. The hug has to be a thing that simply bursts out of the non-parental relatives because they love the child.
On the other hand the child may dislike being hugged or the relatives in question or both, but that’s for the families to work out.
And in conclusion, how is this something for a rape crisis centre to deal with?
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