‘Counting Ourselves’ report confirms high levels of violence directed at trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa

Counting Ourselves is a comprehensive national health and wellbeing survey designed by and for trans and non-binary people. It is led by the Trans Health Research Lab at the University of Waikato, which consists of a team of academic staff and students who are trans, non-binary, and cisgender. Their recently released report - Counting Ourselves: Findings from the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Trans & Non-binary Health Survey - is the second iteration of the survey and follows on from the first report published in 2018. It found significant healthcare inequities and high levels of violence and discrimination against trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa, as well as alarming rates of psychological distress and suicidality within these communities.

The second survey received 2631 responses from trans and non-binary people aged 14 and older living in Aotearoa - nearly twice the number of responses to the 2018 survey.

Principle Investigator Dr Jamie Veale from the University of Waikato, said:

“These figures highlight the urgent need to address discrimination and violence, protect and support those experiencing conversion practices, and fund accessible, safe, and inclusive mental health services.”

The report discusses how trans and non-binary people:

• Experienced discrimination or bullying at work and school
• Were unable to access quality information, healthcare, counselling, housing, or important identity documents – especially during Covid-19
• Avoided activities or communities for fear of how they would be treated, including public restrooms, sports, emergency housing, or certain towns and cities
• Felt unwelcome in, or disconnected from, their communities e.g., religious, ethnic, or disability communities
• Felt other parts of their identities (e.g., their culture, indigeneity, or disability) were invisible or unwelcome in Rainbow spaces
• Were forced to hide their gender identity out of fear
• Experienced attempts by others to stop them being trans or non-binary through shame, coercion, trying to change their behaviour, making them believe their identity was a defect, or pretending they weren’t trans or non-binary
• Frequently saw negative messages about trans and non-binary people online
• Found organisations that were supposed to keep them safe – like schools – tolerated bullying against trans and non-binary people.

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Key findings from the survey

The report discusses comprehensive results across a range of questions, but a few key findings from the survey highlight:

• High levels of unmet need for gender-affirming healthcare persisting between 2018 and 2022
• Unmet healthcare needs compounded by prohibitive costs and fear of mistreatment
• Specific unmet needs for gender affirming hormones, laser hair removal or electrolysis, chest reconstruction surgery, phalloplasty, vaginoplasty, voice therapy, counselling or psychological support, and fertility preservation services
• Increased likelihood (compared to the general population) of reporting experiencing discrimination, threats of violence, attempted or completed forced sexual intercourse, and feeling unsafe using public transport at night
• Increased likelihood of reporting high levels of psychological distress, using cannabis, amphetamines, hallucinogens, and other non-prescription substances, and having a disability, long-term condition, or mental health condition limit their ability to carry out everyday activities
• Decreased likelihood of reporting good general health or feeling like their doctor was good at involving them in decisions about their care and treating them with respect
• High prevalence of deliberate self-harm (50%), serious consideration of suicide (53%), and attempted suicide (10%) in the past 12 months.

While the report largely examines negative experiences, trans and non-binary people also reported some positive or protective experiences. The quality of support from family members, friends, co-workers, and trans, rainbow, or takatāpui community mental health services was crucial to reported positive outcomes. Respondents often drew on their trans and non-binary identities as a source of pride, and were similarly proud of their identities as Indigenous, a person of colour, or a member of an ethnic community where relevant. Many trans and non-binary people reported they had spent a lot of time supporting and trying to make things better for others.

Co-principal Investigator Jack Byrne said:

“Trans and non-binary people are supporting each other through really hard times, but not everyone has that access to community support, especially outside main cities... structural change is urgently needed to ensure that trans and non-binary people are not left to navigate misinformation, discrimination, and violence alone.”

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Policy recommendations from the report

Recommendations made in Counting Ourselves were guided by the six values of Professor Elizabeth Kerekere’s Te Whare Takatāpui framework, with each one representing a different part of a wharenui. When these values are woven together, Te Whare Takatāpui can shelter and nurture all trans and non-binary people and their whānau. Multiple recommendations sit beneath each value and have been summarised below:

Whakapapa: Develop resources to promoting understanding and celebration of gender diversity.

Wairua: Fund accessible community spaces and protecting trans and non-binary people from attempts to change or suppress their identities.

Mauri: Ensure all services respect and meet the needs of trans and non-binary people, including a simple pathway to legal gender and name changes.

Mana: Improve pathways to and information about gender-affirming public healthcare services; counter harmful myths through evidence-based resources.

Tapu: Increase availability of all types of gender-affirming public healthcare services (including mental health and addiction) and protect trans and non-binary people from violence.

Tikanga: Fully protect trans and non-binary people from discrimination and harassment and provide healthcare workers with training and resources about their health needs.

Gender Minorities Aotearoa executive director Ahi Wi-Hongi told RNZ:

"We really need to put funding and put other resourcing around trans people and make sure that there are ways for trans people to be safe. Trans people should get to be safe in society in the regular way that everyone should be safe in society."

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Next steps

This survey helps fill gaps in prevalence data for violence experienced by Rainbow communities in Aotearoa. Care was taken to recruit a wide variety of participants, including via trans and non-binary community leaders, prioritising Māori, Pasifika and Asian peoples, as well as older trans women for these roles. Rainbow organisations helped promote the survey, especially in smaller city networks and rural areas. The team also worked with trans and non-binary disabled and neurodivergent people to get their support to circulate the survey and created specific social media posts for disabled people.  

The authors of the Counting Ourselves report note that they only had space to cover a fraction of the data gathered during the 2022 survey. A te ao Māori report on the data is currently underway, along with a disability resource from the data. They invite government agencies, health providers, community groups, researchers, and funders to consider opportunities for collaboration to make more data available and to action the existing findings and recommendations of this report.

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The changing social landscape

Counting Ourselves data was collected prior to 2023, so does not account for significant changes in the social landscape between 2022 and present.

In their report, Transgressive Transitions (2023), The Disinformation Project, which closed in October 2024, discusses the impact of Posey Parker/Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull's March 2023 visit to Aotearoa, which corresponded with a measurable rise in both volume and tone of transphobia. The report also examines the role online communities play in the intensification of violent anti-trans content, particularly in far-right social media spaces.

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, Research Fellow at The Disinformation Project said:  

“The type of language and imagery we’re seeing is significantly more violent, including repeated use of language that denies that trans people exist, or that they should be allowed to exist.”

Police data reflected a similar increase in violence as the number of reported hate crimes motivated by gender identity almost doubled between 2022 and 2023. In 2024, there were high-profile acts of vandalism were carried out against rainbow road crossings in Auckland and Gisborne. Auckland Pride co-chairperson Bhenjamin Goodsir told RNZ that reparations paid for paint, but didn't make rainbow communities safer. "We need to address the underlying homophobia and transphobia. I don't think we can be excited about repainting in the context of the hate and transphobia being experienced by many at the moment." A Destiny Church protest at a recent Auckland Pride 2025 event gained similar media attention, with a similar protest occurring in Wellington.

Some violence indicators in the 2022 Counting Ourselves report had not changed much since the first report in 2018, with several showing an improvement. Given the changing social landscape since 2023, true experiences of violence may now be significantly worse.

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Related research

New Zealand crime and victims research: The burden of crime victimisation among the LGBTQ+ population in Aotearoa is a study that compares the risk of victimisation between LGBTQ+ individuals and non-LGBTQ+ individuals using data from the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey 2019.

A 2016 report from Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura, Building Rainbow communities free of partner and sexual violence, finds high levels of partner and sexual violence towards members of Rainbow communities and examines unique barriers they face to help-seeking.

Two 2024 reports from the University of New South Wales, National Survey of LGBTIQA+SB Experiences of Sexual Violence: Report 1. Prevalence, attitudes and lifetime experiences and Report 2. Impact, help-seeking and bystander intervention, examine experiences of sexual violence amongst LGBTIQA+ and Brotherboy & Sistergirl communities.

Gender Minorities Aotearoa have conducted a 2024 literature review and meta-analysis of family and sexual violence resources across Aotearoa and internationally to assess their relevance for trans populations: As if I were a human being: Sexual violence, family violence and transgender people: a literature review/meta-analysis.

A US 2025 research article – Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy and Depressive Symptoms Among Transgender Adults – examines the positive relationship between hormone therapy and lower risk of moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms across 48 months of follow-up.