Grandparents should ask for consent to hug their grandchildren, Irish advert says

Grandparents should ask for consent before hugging their grandchildren, a new government-funded Irish advert said.A social media video from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) made the 'demeaning' suggestion, but has since been deleted after a storm of criticism.The video shows two grandparents arriving at a home, where they are enthusiastically embraced by their grandson at the front door while his sister watches on a few feet back, looking uncomfortable. The grandparents then turn to her, puckering their lips as they bear down, while the girl's unease intensifies.The video then cuts to text on screen reading: 'Not everyone wants a hug. Even from the people who love them.'It continues: 'Awkward? Maybe. Important? Absolutely. We-Consent.ie is here to help.'The clip, funded by Ireland's Justice Department, sparked an immediate backlash, and Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan ordered the DRCC to take it down. Two other videos from the We-Consent campaign were also removed.He said: 'The video produced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre involving grandparents does not represent the views of the Government. The ad shows two grandparents bearing down on their granddaughter to kiss and hug her The girl looks incredibly uncomfortable - while her brother had enthusiastically embraced the grandparents'It was both inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents and has been removed by DRCC following my official's engagement with them. 'It goes without saying that having loving grandparents in a child's life is an incredibly positive thing to be cherished and not something to be campaigned against.'While it is vital to ensure that people understand the concept of consent when it comes to sexual relationships, this video did not advance that aim and in many ways was counterproductive.' Ridicule of the video came from around the globe, with even Australia's News24 host James Morrow slamming the clip as 'woke'.Fine Gael Senator Gareth Scahill said the campaign ad was a 'complete waste of resources', while a member of Ireland's parliament said it 'demonises' and shows 'utter contempt' for older people.It was funded through Cuan, Ireland's statutory agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, set up by previous Justice Minister Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee.Speaking on Thursday, she said Cuan was established to support the victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, which should have been the focus of the campaign.'I think it is absolutely essential that we have a very open and a very honest conversation on consent, particularly when the epidemic of domestic and sexual violence, sexual assault, it is still here,' she said. Critics of the advert said it was a misuse of resources allocated to tackling domestic and sexual violence'It is still with us, and there is so much work that we need to do. But I think that should be our focus when we're talking about consent campaigns.'I'm not sure the direction that it has taken, encouraging grandparents to ask permission to hug their [grand]children, is really where I see it being a priority or a focus that is needed.'The DRCC said it carried out workshops looking at experiences that made participants feel uncomfortable, and that the video reflected this feedback.'We-Consent is a long-term campaign as part of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's prevention work to increase the awareness and practice of consent in Ireland,' they said.'We created a video series for our social media channels based on feedback from over 20 consent workshops with younger and older people. 'Part of the workshops involved sharing participants' own experiences of instances when they felt uncomfortable. The scenarios depicted in the video series came up very frequently in all the workshops.'The videos were created with volunteers and staff and reflected these conversations. We do not want that negativity to impinge on and distract from the vital work that we as a centre do in supporting victims and survivors and improving awareness of these important issues across society.'At Leaders' Questions in the Dáil on Thursday, Aontú TD (MP) Paul Lawless accused the Government of having 'utter contempt' for older people. He said the video was a waste of taxpayers' money.'I was shocked to see a bizarre advert in recent days funded by the Department of Justice on the issue of consent,' he said.'This is totally wrong. Firstly, in how it demonises elderly grandparents around the country, but also in terms of the shocking waste of taxpayers' money.'Consent is very important when it comes to sexual relations between people but equating these two types of relationships with a granny giving a hug to a grandchild is completely inaccurate.'Why is the state asking grannies to second-guess themselves when it comes to hugging their grandchildren? Why is the state planting a seed in a child's mind that it is somehow dangerous to receive a hug from its grandmother?'Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill agreed with Mr Lawless that the video was inappropriate but distanced the Government from its approval.'I just want to be very clear that that is not a Government campaign, and that is not the view of the Government,' she replied.'Grandparents are an incredibly important part of family life, an incredibly important part of every child's life, and it is both inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents.'It's also important that we clearly distinguish this video, which was an error and doesn't represent the views of Government, from that different body of work entirely. So I want to be absolutely clear, there is no person in Government that viewed this ad, sanctioned this ad.'Earlier, Fine Gael Senator, Gareth Scahill said the campaign ad was a 'complete waste of resources'.'What's concerning here is public money has been used to fund an ad which at best has been ill-thought out, and at worst is offensive and potentially damaging to our older population,' he said.'The overall We-Consent three-year campaign to inform and engage with all about consent is a good initiative but this publicly funded social media video is a million miles off the mark.'What's next? Will we need to sign consent forms at arrival halls in Dublin, Shannon, Knock and Cork airports this Christmas before we can greet family members?'In a statement for Cuan, a spokesperson said the videos were produced at low cost using volunteers and were not approved by Government.'We-Consent is a programme created and developed by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, aimed at informing, educating, and engaging the public about all forms of consent,' they said.'Social media videos shared recently as part of this programme were produced by DRCC at a low cost using volunteers and are not part of a Government advertising campaign.'Cuan understands that DRCC intends to review these videos. They are being removed from their social media channels to enable this review.'