New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key, has been branded a "school yard bully" for repeatedly pulling on a waitress's ponytail.
The leader of the National Party was forced to issue a public apology after the waitress wrote an anonymous blog post detailing the harassment.
Key didn't dispute her version of events, but said it "was never his intention to make her feel uncomfortable". The hair-pulling had been "in the context of a bit of banter" and he had apologised to her when he realised she had taken offense, he told The Guardian.
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The waitress described how she felt "powerless and tormented" by the Key's actions, which left her in tears. "He was like the school yard bully tugging on the little girls' hair trying to get a reaction, experiencing that feeling of power over her," she wrote.
The hair-pulling continued for several weeks, even after the waitress told Key's security team that it made her feel uncomfortable.
"He would come up behind me, tug on my hair and then pretend that his wife, had done it (much to her embarrassment), and she would tell him to stop it. As he rounded the corner behind me he commented 'that's a very tantalising ponytail,'" she wrote.
New Zealanders took to social media to condemn their Prime Minister's behaviour, with many arguing that his actions were tantamount to abuse.
Separately, video footage has since emerged which appears to show Key grabbing a young girl’s hair during last year's election campaign.
New Zealand's Human Rights Commission is among a number of groups to publically condemn his actions. "It's never OK to touch someone without their permission," Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue said in a statement.
Her views were echoed by the National Council of Woman of New Zealand. "Up and down this country, day after day, people are touched without giving their consent," it said in an open letter. "At one end of the scale, it is an unwelcome pull on a pony-tail. At the other end, it's our shocking levels of violence against women."
"We need to change our culture so we don't see touching someone as being our right, unless we know that it's welcome. We need you to lead from the top."
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