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Instigator of viral Twitter thread (men bragging about hurting women) says "I just wanted to know what people's experiences are"

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While Calvin Duncan’s responses on Twitter can be seen as comments of pride and celebration, he insists he meant no harm.

With what could be construed as encouraging the behaviour with his responses, the 22-year-old says: “I was just cheering them [on] to comment more, to keep the thread lit.”

READ MORE: Men bragging about hurting women on this Twitter thread shows us we still have a long way to go with the safety of women

Calvin says he recognises the responses to his since deleted tweet were “shocking” and said it was all for curiosity so he cannot be held responsible for what other people said.

“Some comments were really shocking but I can’t say I was believing everyone who commented, so I’m really not sure about the stories,” said Calvin.

READ MORE: WATCH: "We deserve to not live in fear that one of us might be the next to lose their life"

He said all he wanted to find out what peoples experiences are, “especially the women”.

“Yes some of the comments might be dangerous but we can’t be really sure about their statements. What if they are lying, what if they are not?

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“I shouldn’t be held accountable because I only asked a question so you guys are portraying me as a bad person. I don’t understand because I just wanted to know what the guys experience [were] with their partners,” adds Calvin.

Regarding his responsibility as the instigator of the conversation he concedes, “I should be protecting women, actually, so on that one I’m stunned.” 

READ MORE: There’s a chance men on viral Twitter thread can be fired or criminally charged for their posts

Following the viral nature of the thread, Calvin said he has decided to delete the initial tweet.

“The comments that were coming from the people, some of them were really shocking so I had to delete the tweet because I could really see that a lot of people do not like the comments, so I had to delete the tweet and clear the air,” he says.

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He says having the tweet live also created a bad reflection for him and he is concerned that “it could ruin my reputation”. He said he would rather like to be seen as a good person in the community.

“A lot of people were commenting bad things about me, they were calling me names instead of calling the people who commented because the only thing I did was ask a question.”

READ MORE: Here's what we know about femicide in SA - numbers may be decreasing but the reality is still very grim

Maintaining his innocence he said:  “How can you can you blame a person for asking a question?”

Despite his feeling towards how his Twitter thread was received, Calvin continues to have the following tweets live on his page:

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