An Invercargill student who was racially abused in Wellington last week is encouraging people to "stand up for themselves'' following the ordeal.
Krizia Egipto, who is originally from the Philippines, was visiting the capital with her parents to renew her passport when she was verbally attacked by an unknown woman at a Night'n Day store in the city.
The 18-year-old Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) student posted a video of the incident on social media and the video has since been viewed more than 85,000 times and attracted about 350 comments offering support to her and her family.
In the video, the woman can be heard to say Ms Egipto and her family "were not welcome here'' and that they were "displacing white people''.
Ms Egipto was surprised by the attention the video received and hoped her post would encourage others to speak up against similar attacks.
"If you experience this kind of situation ... just speak up for yourself. We all have the right to speak up.''
After the shop incident, the woman who allegedly made the derogatory comments was asked to leave, but she continued to verbally abuse Ms Egipto and her parents outside.
It was during the second tirade that Ms Egipto decided to record the comments. She decided to make the video "public'' on Facebook as other international friends had also experienced racial abuse and were unsure how to deal with it.
Ms Egipto, who is studying hotel management at SIT, returned to class yesterday to a wave of support from friends.
"Every person I have known here in Invercargill has messaged me asking me if I'm OK. My classmates from high school [say] we're welcome here and my family are welcome here and that the lady shouldn't be treating us like that.''
- Ben Waterworth
