Violence against women in New Zealand

1 in 3 women in New Zealand are estimated to have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a partner in their lifetime.[4] Further, sexual assault is considered to be a less serious crime compared to other forms of interpersonal violence, where only 15% of victims believed sexual assault was a crime according to the 2019 New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS).[5]

In the 2009 New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS), publishing survey data on crime that took place in 2008, sexual offences accounted for 5% of all offences reported in the survey.[6] The New Zealand Police recorded crime for reported sexual offences in 2008 accounted for 1% of all offences.[6] In the NZCASS, 45% of people who had experienced sexual offences considered the incident a crime, 31% considered the incident ‘wrong, but not a crime’, and 23% considered the incident as ‘just something that happens’.[6] Approximately one in four New Zealand women experience unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime, most often by someone known to them.[7] In New Zealand in 2008 there were 607 prosecuted cases for rape, of which just 29% resulted in convictions, compared with the 68% conviction rate for all offences.[8] A Ministry of Justice discussion paper exploring improvements to sexual violence legislation reported that around 90 percent of rapes go unreported.[8] This makes it the least likely crime to be reported.[9] Of Police files coded as sexual violation of an adult between 1 July 2005 and 31 December 2007, 95% of violations were of females. Of the perpetrators identified, 99% were male.[10]

In February 2015 the New Zealand Ministry for Women released a report stating that Māori women are twice as likely as other New Zealand women to experience some form of violence.[11]

A government report in 2021 reveals that half of wāhine Māori have experienced sexual or physical violence, with young people making up two-thirds of sexual assault victims.[12] A new initiative called Te Hau Tangata, launched at Wharewātea Marae, seeks to address sexual harm and family violence. Led by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, the initiative adopts a whānau-led Te Ao Māori approach to transform the system. It aims to provide a safe platform for survivors to share their stories through anonymous feedback, community meetings, and family-led solutions, aiming to tackle long-standing issues of fragmented government agency efforts.[13]

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal cohort study of 1037 people born in Dunedin during 1972–73, found that by age 21, 27 percent of female study members reported they had been physically abused by a partner and 22 percent of male study members reported they had perpetrated violence against their partner. However, in contradiction to many other reports, the Dunedin study also found higher rates of domestic violence against men than against women, with 34 percent of male study members reporting physical abuse by a partner and 37 percent of female study members reporting they had perpetrated violence against their partner.[14] More recently, the NZ Police crimes statistics database suggests that roughly 90% of all sexual assault victims over the age of 15 are female,[15] with a total of 29,643 victims, for the period July 2014 to August 2019.

Data is largely dependent upon reporting and recording practices, and is unlikely to accurately represent the incidence of domestic violence against women in New Zealand.[16] In 2013, there were 6749 incidents of ‘male assaults female’ recorded by the New Zealand Police,[16] and 2013 Protection Orders were granted by the Family Court.[16] Ninety percent of respondents named in Protection Order applications were male.[16] In 2013, the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges received 81,720 crisis calls and 2940 women (and children) accessed safe house services.[16]

New Zealand's Universal Periodic Review is conducted by the UN Human Rights Council and aims to improve the human rights situation of each of the 193 United Nations (UN) members and occurs every five years.[17]

The national report submitted by New Zealand in 2013 identified the reduction of violence within families and its disproportionate impact upon women and children as a key priority of the New Zealand Government.[18]

In the Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review for New Zealand, published in April 2014, mentioned the Government's commitment to eradicate the problem, including taking steps to reconvene the Family Violence Ministerial Group, the introduction of Police Safety Orders, expanding the definition of domestic violence to include economic and financial abuse, implementing the 2009 Action Plan for New Zealand Women, and implementation of recommendations on the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence.[19] Included in the report were recommendations from seventeen other states suggesting measures for the reduction of violence against women in New Zealand.[20] The New Zealand government accepted the majority of these recommendations and detailed the steps taken in carrying out the recommendations.[21]

Under New Zealand's CEDAW obligations, New Zealand is required to submit periodic reports on the implementation of CEDAW to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the Committee). New Zealand's most recent periodic report on its obligations under CEDAW was in 2010/2011.[22] Since 1989, it has been common practice for parties to CEDAW to include in their periodic reports to the Committee information on any legislation protecting women against all kinds of violence, measures adopted to eradicate violence, existence of support systems for women who are the victims of violence, and statistical data on women who are the victims of violence.[23] Furthermore, in 2010 the scope of Article 2 of CEDAW was described to include a due diligence obligation on states to prevent discrimination by private actors.[24]

In its concluding observations, issued in August 2012, the Committee expressed concern at "insufficient" statistical data on violence against Māori and migrant women, and women with disabilities.[25]