White Ribbon ambassador Mark Longley calls for violence to stop

Eight years ago Kiwi Emily Longley was strangled in the UK by her ex-boyfriend, the tragic end to a short but violent relationship.

Her father back here in New Zealand, current Newshub Digital managing editor Mark Longley, was not aware of the extent of the tumultuous relationship.

He appeared on The AM Show on Friday, and says we need to stop tolerating male perpetrated violence against females.

"The moment I first saw Emily's body, it's just horrific, a horrific moment," he told host Duncan Garner.

"When I first saw Emily's body in the morgue, as a father there's a thousand emotions that go over you, but one of them was as a father there's nothing I can do about this. It's not a problem I can fix.

"It's not a problem with school, it's not a problem with her friends. There's nothing I can do about this, it's just too late."

Emily's murderer, Elliot Turner, had made multiple death threats against her and had attacked her before. In one case, he practised killing her on one of his friends and told them he was going to kill her. But they failed to stand up and prevent Emily's death.

Mr Longley says we need to do more to step in when people are struggling or in danger.

"If someone's talking about setting fire to their girlfriend, that girl's life's in danger," he says.

"If one of your mates is struggling, if they're under a lot of pressure, if they're behaving in a way you're not sure is right - just step in."

As an ambassador for the White Ribbon organisation, he's campaigning to encourage men and boys to show women respect.

"The first thing I've learned is there's actually a problem with family violence in New Zealand," he says.

"As people we can do a lot, we can stop tolerating this, and we can actually think one baby dying every five weeks, that's not as statistic we're comfortable with."

But he finishes with a positive message to Kiwis - "you can make a difference".

"We can change. As people we can change. We can all step in," he says.

"That's part of the campaign this year, it's asking men, particularly fathers, to be that champion in the family."

Newshub.