Sexual violence is any sexual act committed against the will of another person, either when this person does not consent or when consent cannot be given. 

While figures show that there are high numbers of women in New Zealand experiencing violence, the most recent New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey found that 92% of sexual assault offences went unreported to Police. 

In criminal justice this is called “attrition.” Attrition refers to the rate at which crimes fall out of the justice system in terms of gaps between the number of crimes that are committed, reported, result in charges, and result in convictions.

A 2019 Ministry of Justice study on attrition found there was 23,739 sexual violence victimisations reported in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018. Of these, only 31% resulted in a perpetrator being charged, and 11% resulted in a conviction.

Sexual violence is not acceptable, and help is available: