Male 'pick-up artists' have used an online forum to discuss where to "target" women in Launceston.
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The Examiner has seen a thread from 2015 - which is still publicly accessible online - on the Roosh V forum, named after and overseen by a notorious 'pick-up artist' who has advocated for rape to be made legal on private property.
It follows reports last week that a thread on the same forum detailed where men should go in Melbourne if they wanted to approach women.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The University of Melbourne has said it will ramp up security on the campus after a number of locations there were mentioned in the thread.
On April 10, 2015, a Roosh V user with the handle Hazaer - who implies he isn't an Australian native - posted a thread of his own on the forum's travel board with the subject line 'Launceston, Tasmania, Australia'.
"Cant [sic] really see the aggressive approaching by Aussie guys that I have read about in this forum," he writes. "Girls seem to be giving the vibes but guys either ignore that preferring to stay in their groups or engage and then leave after some convo.. not sure if this is some kind of advanced game I am not aware of."
Hazaer then goes on to provide a guide to Launceston nightlife, discussing different venues and their perceived suitability for "gaming". He mentions Bakers Lane and Irish Murphy's, as well as Lonnies Niteclub, which he says is "the best club".
"I havent [sic] seen much approaches and havent [sic] approached myself much.. But from the looks of it, professional women look more open but this has to be confirmed," Hazaer says of Launceston in general.
Another user, haxswagger, appearing to be a Launceston local, replies to the thread, saying, "Pubs would be the place to target 25+ chicks".
Hazaer responds: "One thing I have observed about the nightlife scene here is that guys rarely approach which might be a good thing for us."
Engender Equality chief executive Alina Thomas said behaviour such as the kind exhibited by male 'pick-up artists' needed to be called out.
"When somebody publishes something like [what was posted on the forum], there needs to be a community response where that person is told, 'That's not OK'," Ms Thomas said.
"And if that doesn't happen either through people agreeing with it and, therefore, colluding with it or the other very dangerous thing that happens is that people say nothing."
When somebody publishes something like [what was posted on the forum], there needs to be a community response where that person is told, 'That's not OK'.
- Alina Thomas, Engender Equality chief executive
Ms Thomas said 'pick-up artist' culture belonged on a continuum of sexist behaviour, beginning with jokes in the workplace and ending with sexual assault and murder.
"I think ... we [need to] find ... an alliance of behaviour around calling out stuff that's quite overtly predatory," she said.
Minister for Women Jacquie Petrusma condemned the online discussion.
"Any such comments and the attitudes they represent have no place in our society," Mrs Petrusma said.
"We encourage all members of the community to respect women."