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As climate change worsens, gender-based violence also worsens. Climate change multiplies the risks and impacts of gender-based violence in the following ways:
- Climate change creates hardship, including poverty, displacement, and disruption of services, which disproportionately affects women and girls.
- Hardship and other multipliers of risk can intensify the social drivers of violence, worsening existing gender inequalities and amplifying the marginalisation and discrimination women and girls face.
- Colonisation, especially systemic dispossession of Māori land, exacerbates the risks Māori face as a result of climate change.
- During disasters, women and girls face gender-based risks, including but not limited to early or forced marriage, exploitation and human trafficking, higher likelihood of death or injury, poverty, and disruption of gynaecological healthcare.
- Women, girls, and Māori are often excluded from decision-making processes that respond to climate change, which deprives them of critical safety mechanisms.
- Women and girls who are visible in public capacities responding to climate change and gender-based violence face increased backlash, including human rights defenders.
What are the links between gender-based violence and climate change?
This News Story examines the growing body of evidence that climate change increases the severity of violence and the number of women and girls experiencing that violence. While climate change does not directly cause gender-based violence, extreme weather events and global warming can lead to economic instability, damaged infrastructure, food insecurity, ruptured social ties, deepening fragility and conflict, and water scarcity.
When these impacts intersect with a societal background of inequitable power dynamics, discrimination and harmful gender norms, they can exacerbate violence against women and girls. In turn, these impacts affect women and girls’ ability to adapt or recover from climate-induced emergencies and disproportionately risks their livelihoods.
Natural disasters and the humanitarian emergencies they generate are expected to continue to rise, leading to enormous displacement. Many displacements from natural disasters also happen in conflict-affected settings, underscoring the importance of improving humanitarian capacity to meet both kinds of emergency demand.
Why are women and girls disproportionately affected by climate change?
Systemic reviews confirm that women and girls face increased gender-based violence during disasters, emergencies, and extreme weather events. Risk factors that women and girls face for gender-based violence include unequal social norms, gender inequalities, increased life stressors, law enforcement failures, migration, and exposure to high-risk environments. Extreme events also potentially increase reporting of existing gender-based violence.
Women and girls are much more likely to die during climate-related disasters than men, with some possible explanations including lower access to resources, care responsibilities, gendered poverty, and gender discrimination during relief efforts. Women also face unique risks from heat stress brought on by anthropogenic climate change. Areas where women face significant social and economic discrimination see the greatest impacts on women’s comparative vulnerability in disasters – that is, in settings where women have more social and economic means and agency, the disaster mortality rates for men and women are roughly the same.
Women and girls also face an increase in gender-based violence during infectious disease outbreaks, which are becoming more prevalent due to climate change, urbanisation, and changes in land use. Violence against women and girls was exacerbated during Covid-19 by movement restrictions that meant they could not as easily avoid abusive family members, could not access social services, and faced heightened financial insecurity.
What risks do women and girls face during climate disasters and other emergencies?
During climate disasters and other emergencies women face increased risk of violence including rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, honour killings, human trafficking, and early or forced marriage. The physical, mental, and social consequences of this violence are profound, and can include injury, death, trauma, mental health issues, substance dependency, poverty, pregnancy, miscarriage, and abortion among others.
Some evidence suggests that communities under stress may adopt more conservative or customary patriarchal practices. Climate disasters can contribute to community conflict over resources and increased violent behaviour by men, including gender-based violence. Women and girls face a variety of risks, including:
- They may not be seen as responsive to domestic demands of male family members, particularly if men lose their jobs, increasing their exposure to IPV
- They may have to walk great distances to collect resources like water, increasing their exposure to sexual violence
- They may be displaced from their homes and relocated to transit centres refugee camps, increasing their exposure to sexual violence
- They may be forced or coerced into exchanging sexual acts for resources, as part or full payment, including sex work
- Girls may be married early to relieve some financial burdens or settle debts
- They may be unable to migrate out of danger zones due to lack of economic resources or heavy care or domestic burdens
- They may be deprived of basic income to meet household needs, increasing their exposure to IPV.
Indigenous women and girls are exposed to amplified risks as they face additional systemic structural barriers to safety. In colonial and post-colonial contexts, historical and continued systemic oppression, including the denial of basic needs and limited access to social, economic, and political resources, exacerbates the impacts of gender-based violence and climate disasters.
Women and girls as environmental human rights defenders
Women play a crucial role in climate change action, particularly as environmental human rights defenders. However, women and women’s rights organisations face barriers to taking action – their voices and agency are undervalued, and they are met with rising threats, gender-based violence, and even femicide. Indigenous women, who are often at the frontline of environmental action to protect their rights, livelihoods, territories, and resources, face even greater risks in this space. This is driven by long-intersecting forms of discrimination and violence, namely racism, colonialism, and colonisation.
In Aotearoa, wāhine Māori often lead responses to climate disasters. Their work in, with, and for their communities during and after flooding, for example, is an intersection of gendered and cultural labour that comes from a place of deep aroha for their communities. Yet, many of these wāhine report facing heightened public scrutiny or even abuse from the wider public for their efforts.
What structures stand in the way of addressing these issues?
To move forward, both the issues of gender-based violence and climate change need to be addressed at the same time. Failure to address one undermines efforts to overcome the other. In international policy spaces, more work is needed to raise awareness of the issues, build strategic alliances to expedite action, and to include gender-based violence considerations into environmental response projects.
- Gathering more data to understand the true impact of climate change on violence against woman and girls, including greater collection of sex-disaggregated data
- Increasing investment in flexible and adaptive approaches to prevent and respond to violence against woman and girls
- Ensuring that responses are always survivor-centred and trauma-informed
- Preventing violence against women environmental human rights defenders and holding perpetrators to account.
Other research and resources
Aotearoa
Hauraki Māori: weathering Cyclone Gabrielle, Moyle et. al. (2025)
This research aimed to understand how Hauraki Māori mobilised to address the disaster response and recovery needs of whānau during Cyclone Gabrielle. The goal was to use these insights to improve local civil defence planning, enhance communication between Thames Coromandel District Council and Hauraki Māori, and inform more effective resource allocation for future extreme weather events.
Advice for disabled people in emergencies, National Emergency Management Agency | Te Rākau Whakamarumaru
This site, Get Ready, provides advice for emergency readiness. The above resource is a collection of advice for disabled people or those with requirements that may put them at greater risk in an emergency.
Climate-related distress and perceptions of government climate action among Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Aotearoa New Zealand: a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, Huston et. al. (2026)
This research examines responses to a nationally representative survey of Māori and non-Māori youth in Aotearoa on climate-related distress and perceptions of government climate action.
International
Climate change, disasters and gender-based violence in the Pacific, UN Women (2021)
This brief is part of UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office’s series on the links between climate change, gender, and development issues including women’s economic empowerment, health, food security, and energy. This brief highlights the impact of climate change and disasters on women in the Pacific.
Comprehensive report on the needs and recovery of Filipino survivors of the Lahaina fires, Tagnawa (2025)
This report focuses on Filipino survivors of the 2023 Lahaina fires and highlights women’s experiences of gender-based violence after the disaster.
Taking Stock: Sexual and reproductive health and rights in climate commitments, UNFPA and Queen Mary University of London (2023)
This research looks at the impacts of climate change on women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. It finds that climate change has a detrimental impact on these rights, and that efforts to address climate change without addressing these rights and gender equality risks exacerbating these.
Rising heat and rising harm: a systematic review of heat and gender-based violence, Pearson et. al. (2026)
This systematic review examines the relationship between heatwaves and heat stress and gender-based violence. It notes the urgent need for longitudinal studies using interdisciplinary methods and community-led research to better inform prevention and response strategies.
Bibliography
Extreme events and gender-based violence: a mixed-methods systematic review, van Daalen et al. (2022)
Climate change and gender-based violence: what are the links? SDDirect GBC AoR Helpdesk (2021)
Colliding crises: how the climate crisis fuels gender-based violence. Issues brief, Spotlight Initiative (2025)
Natural hazards, disasters and violence against women and girls: a global mixed-methods systematic review, Thurston et al. (2021)
A systematic review of infectious disease outbreaks and violence against women and girls: changes in magnitude, mechanisms and lessons for the future, Stark et al. (2026)
Gender-based violence and environment linkages: the violence of inequality, IUCN (2021)
Gender-differentiated and age-specific risks of heat stress in a warming world: implications for equality and resilience, UN Women (2026)
Tackling violence against women and girls in the context of climate change, UN Women (2022)
Indigenous-led community research in a changing climate: impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle on the health and wellbeing of Māori in Te Tairāwhiti, Aotearoa New Zealand, McClutchie et al. (2026)
Prevention of, and response to gender-based violence in settings affected by natural disasters: with a specific look at Asia and the Pacific. Guidance note, SDDirect GBC AoR Helpdesk (2020)
What keeps women safe from violence during shocks?: review of risk and protective factors in the Indo-Pacific Region, Oo et al. (2026)
Related media
Māori response filled critical gaps in Cyclone Gabrielle relief effort, Te Ao Māori News, 04.06.2025
Climate change puts more women at risk for domestic violence, The Washington Post, 03.01.2023
Women and Climate Change, BBC, 21.03.2022
Human rights expert calls for more female leadership on climate, RNZ, 12.11.2021
Women shouldering the burden of climate crisis need action, not speeches, The Guardian, 13.03.2020
Climate breakdown 'is increasing violence against women', The Guardian, 29.01.2020
The climate crisis is a feminist issue, The Spinoff, 08.06.2019
Submissions are now open for the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill.
Submissions are open until July 2nd, 2026. Please note all submissions will be publicly released and published to the Parliament website.
You can make a submission here.
What the bill seeks to do
The Member’s Bill, introduced by NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft, would amend the Legislation Act 2019 by adding a definition of “woman” as “an adult human biological female” and of “man” as “an adult human biological male”, with corresponding definitions for “male” and “female”.
The bill’s policy statement says “the purpose of this amendment is to uphold legal certainty, protect the integrity of sex-based rights, and ensure that language in law reflects biological reality. This definition will apply in all contexts where the terms “woman” and “man” are used, unless explicitly stated otherwise in specific legislation”.
Key resources for making a submission
Comprehensive submission guide for the bill by Qtopia: Submission Guide: Legislation (Definition of Woman & Man) Amendment Bill
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa’s editorial overview of the bill: What the “man” and “woman” bill really means
RNZ’s overview of the bill and submission guide: New Zealand's Definitions of Woman and Man Bill and how the public can give submissions, RNZ, 02.06.2026
General guidance on writing select committee submissions: Parliamentary Select Committee Submissions 101, People Against Prisons Aotearoa
Criticisms of the bill
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa and Qtopia have comprehensively discussed weaknesses of the proposed bill. They raise the following issues:
- It raises significant Bill of Rights concerns
- It falls short of the Government’s human rights obligations
- It discriminates against trans, non-binary, and intersex people
- It may restrict access to abortion – and potentially other services
- The definitions of ‘woman’ and ‘man’ are problematic
- The bill may have further unforeseen consequences as it applies to every piece of secondary legislation
- There’s no legal need
- The bill does not protect women, or women-only spaces
- The Bill violates Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Report of the Attorney-General under the Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Legislation (Definition of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill found that the Bill appears to limit the right to be free from discrimination on the grounds of age, and that limit cannot be justified under section 5 of the Bill of Rights Act. This relates to the use of the word ‘adult’, which would create some gaps in legislation for women between the ages of 16 and 19.
The Attorney-General, Chris Bishop, found that there was too much ambiguity around legal definitions of sex and gender in the Bill of Rights Act and the Human Rights Act, combined with “the limited and uncertain legal effect of the [Legislation Amendment] Bill” to conclude whether the Bill would limit the right to be free from discrimination on the grounds of sex.
Community responses
Qtopia notes that the bill uses “dog-whistle” language of “protecting sex-based rights of women and girls”:
“By hiding their anti-trans agenda behind the language of women’s rights, far-right groups claim the moral high ground while normalising hate.”
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa Chief Executive Jackie Edmond said:
“The proposed legislation is a direct take from the American Conservative playbook. We’re seeing globally, this incremental creep of tampering with laws to reduce rights. Despite the stated intentions of this bill, it seems it could have a negative impact on rights for women, trans and intersex people. And we’re really worried about the consequences this legislation could have, such as limiting access to abortion.”
For a discussion on the science the bill claims to honour, see Professor Mohan Dutta’s opinion piece through Massey University. Dutta states the language used in the bill is:
“… The same script, almost word for word, that the transnational far right has been circulating for the better part of a decade. It is worth pausing on what is actually being claimed, what the science actually says, where this script comes from, and what it does to the people in its path.”
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission Disability Rights Commissioner and Rainbow rights spokesperson, Prudence Walker said in a press release:
“This Bill does not advance human rights. I am concerned this legislation will trample on the mana of trans and intersex people, who already face well-documented discrimination in Aotearoa. It also attempts to completely erase non-binary people.”
See Te Kāhui Tika Tangata’s Trans rights are human rights guidance for further information.
Adhikaar Aotearoa’s statement on the bill says:
“The Bill reflects a broader illiberal culture war and is an exercise in poor law making. Illiberal culture wars, imported from overseas, often seek to frame minority rights as threats and to construct false binaries where complexity has long existed. Aotearoa New Zealand should resist this trajectory. Our legal traditions, though imperfect, have increasingly moved towards recognising diversity, respecting dignity, and expanding protections for those historically excluded.”
It notes that the Bill frequently evokes concerns of about sex-segregated spaces and protections, but New Zealand law already contains exceptions in the Human Rights Act 1993 for these issues.
Women’s Health Action general manager Isis McKay told Pharmacy Today that they reject the bill as a priority for supporting women:
“Our perspectives, feedback, and recommendations are grounded in what people identify as the barriers and enablers shaping their health and wellbeing. While the issues raised with us are diverse and wide-ranging, the need for legislation to define the terms ‘woman’ or ‘man’ is not among them. “It is not a priority, and it is not something our organisation – or the communities we work alongside – have called for.”
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa | the New Zealand Nurses Organisation called on the nursing workforce to stand firm in support of Aotearoa’s transgender communities:
“Our professional duty is to care with evidence, compassion and Te Tiriti-based equity and that means standing against laws that erase trans and intersex people.”
Youth health nurse practitioner Michael Brenndorfer said the Bill ignored the biological realities of many intersex people born with a range of sex characteristics — and the psychosocial realities of gender identity and expression, saying:
“The irony that the parties bringing this forward are claiming to be doing so to protect women’s rights while also being the parties voting against gender pay equity claims and abortion access should tell us everything we need to know about their motives here.”
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) opposes the Bill. In particular, it highlights in a press release:
“The Bill ignores te ao Māori concepts like takatāpui and violates Te Tiriti o Waitangi by failing to recognise that takatāpui and takatāpuitanga are taonga. It threatens the right of takatāpui whānau to equitable, safe healthcare access through exclusionary language.”
Dr Penni Wolfgramm, clinical psychologist and Pacific Rainbow advocate, told PMN:
“It feels really out of touch. Having talanoa with our communities, it feels out of step with our Pacific and Pacific ways of how we understand gender.”
“These long-recognised MVPFAFF+ [Mahū (Hawai‘i/Tahiti usage varies), Vakasalewalewa (Fiji), Palopa (Sāmoa), Fa’afafine (Sāmoa), Akata (Tokelau), Fakaleitī (Tonga), Fakafifine (Niue) and other Pacific gender-diverse identities] identities aren't woke ideologies. Gender fluidity and gender diversity are a natural part of what it means to be from the Moana and what it means to be Pasifika.”
Press releases
Definitions Bill Statement, National Council of Women of New Zealand, 25.05.2026
Trans women are women; transphobic gender bill is abhorrent, Auckland Women's Coalition, 21.05.2026
Why cis women need to stand up for trans rights, Auckland Women's Centre, 25.07.2024
Related media
Judy O’Brien: Gender Bill Risks Harming All New Zealanders, Gay Express, 29.05.2026
NZ First’s gender definition bill passes first parliamentary hurdle, The Spinoff, 21.05.2026
Bill seeking to legally define the terms 'man' and 'woman' passes first reading, RNZ, 21.05.2026
The Government has released Budget 2026.
There is no new funding earmarked for family violence or sexual violence services.
Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said in a Budget press release:
“Budget 2026 invests in essential frontline services, critical infrastructure and the reforms needed to secure a future where New Zealanders can look forward to more opportunity, higher wages, better public services and a more affordable country for the next generation.”
“Budget 2026 is a responsible Budget that boosts funding for essential services and invests in the infrastructure New Zealand needs for the future without breaking the bank.”
A full summary of initiatives can be found on the Treasury website.
See also Stuff's Budget Bot, an AI tool that can answer questions about Budget 2026.
Public service cuts
Budget 2026 includes a public service transformation programme that will see most public agencies directed to deliver year-on-year baseline savings, to a total of 12% over four years. It aims to “right-size the public sector and improve the efficiency and productivity of government spending” and “transform the public service into a digitally-enabled, efficiently-structured system that is better positioned to deliver high quality and responsive public services” (p. 66). It will aim to reduce core public service full-time equivalents (FTE) from approximately 63,600 to 55,000 by June 2029.
The Interdepartmental Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence is excluded from public agency baseline savings targets, but not from FTE reductions.
The PSA, Aotearoa’s largest trade union representing workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, Health and community groups, expressed concern about the proposed cuts. In a press release, National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said:
“We cannot afford to lose more experienced public servants. Who is going to tackle rising poverty, fix our crumbling infrastructure, care for our ageing population, and grow the economy? You can’t do more with less forever, and the Government has long passed the point where cuts cause real harm.”
Changes to social housing
The budget makes several changes to social housing and housing support:
- The minimum Income-related Rent contribution for social housing tenants and the client contribution for households in emergency housing and transitional housing will increase from 25% to 30% phased in over a 12-month period from 1 April 2027.
- The weekly Accommodation Supplement for low-income households in private rentals will increase between $10 and $30 per week from 1 April 2027.
- The Budget invests a further $69.2 million into the Flexible Housing Fund to deliver between 1800 and 2250 additional social homes and other housing solutions over three years starting from 2028/29.
RNZ notes the changes will mean 111,000 families not in social housing get an extra $14.91 on average per week, while 45,000 families would lose $10.82 on average a week. For those in social housing, 84,000 families would be $31.02 worse off on average a week.
The Salvation Army's director of social policy Dr Bonnie Robinson told RNZ the changes would make it harder for many families who come into Salvation Army centres for support:
"They're already struggling and finding it very difficult to afford the basics. This Budget is doing nothing to change that for them in any significant way, and for some people, things are probably going to get worse… We're going to leave more children in poverty. We've already had about 48,000 children in the last three years slip into poverty. That's very sad and disappointing because we know the life-long impact that's going to have on these kids."
New spending to implement Dame Karen Poutasi Review recommendations
The budget provides $82.584 million between 2025/2026 and 2029/2030 to support the delivery and implementation of recommendations made in the Dame Karen Poutasi review. The recommendations aim to improve the system of safety nets for preventing harm in the children’s system. This initiative will:
- support a sequenced rollout of mandatory training for 20,000 core children’s workers over two years to increase their capability to identify and respond to children at risk of harm
- ensure the child protection system has the capacity to respond safely and effectively to expected higher volumes of reports of concern arising from both training and the recently established multi-agency hub
- support Health New Zealand to increase participation in the Child Protection Protocol, working alongside New Zealand Police and Oranga Tamariki to assess and respond to the most serious cases of abuse.
Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said in a press release she was pleased that Budget 2026 made a strong investment towards Dame Karen Poutasi’s recommendations, but that it did not go far enough for the nearly 170,000 New Zealand children living in material hardship, despite some initiatives for them:
“This is a missed opportunity to make a significant difference to our country’s child poverty rates. The reality of day-to-day struggles for children in material hardship are immense, and I’m deeply disappointed the Budget doesn’t deliver enough for them.”
New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) CEO Alicia Sudden called the funding “the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” in a press release:
“Recent research shows that income support in a child’s early years can reduce rates of maltreatment. Increasing incomes and reducing hardship can have very real long-term impacts on the wellbeing and broader productivity of New Zealand… NZCCSS is calling on political leaders to show justice and compassion by taking urgent action to lift children out of poverty.”
Proposal for Reducing the Risk of Online Harm to Children
This initiative within Vote Internal Affairs allocates $30.75 million over four years to develop policy and possible regulatory options to improve children’s online safety, subject to future policy and funding decisions.
Closure of Project Whetū
The budget has clawed back funding earmarked for Project Whetū, which aimed to invest in technology and new ways of working to establish a consistent national approach to the management of family violence. It returns $5.196 million because the replacement of the New Zealand Police Family Safety System with a new technology platform is not ready to progress.
Forensic mental health services
An undisclosed amount has been earmarked as contingency to address critical demand pressures on forensic mental health services. Figures have been withheld due to commercial sensitivities.
Justice
Te Au Reka
The budget has allocated $34.112 million for Te Au Reka, the digital case management system for the courts, with the pilot due to commence in the Family Court later this year. Time-limited funding of $12.154 million will also be available in 2026/27 for demand-driven cost pressures for court and coroner services.
Legal Aid
The Ministry has received $30.280m in 2026/27 to meet demand-driven cost pressures. This initiative will help alleviate pressure on legal aid services that are critical to the effective operation of the courts. It will ensure eligible court participants continue to receive legal advice and representation.
Offender Levy
The offender levy is payable at sentencing by any offender who is convicted. It is used to fund services for victims of serious crime and ensures that offenders pay to help address the harm that their crimes cause. This initiative increases the offender levy from $50 to $100.
Firearms reform
Budget 2026 provides a total of $44.903m over four years to deliver a reformed firearms system to improve public safety and trust and provide efficient, effective, and responsive regulatory services. It enables the establishment of Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand as a new independent entity, and enables the modernisation of firearms licensing, case management, and registration to improve public safety and enhance efficiency.
Three-day hospital stay for postpartum mothers
The budget sets aside $34.4 million over the next four years to implement the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill. This initiative provides funding that will create a legal entitlement for all women to access a minimum three-day postnatal stay in an inpatient care facility after birth.
Related media
Post-natal stay announcement 'incorrectly characterised', Christopher Luxon says, RNZ, 02.06.2026
Budget 2026 boosts Māori media – but leaves many whānau to struggle, The Spinoff, 29.05.2026
Budget backlash grows over rents, poverty and Pacific family hardship. PMN, 28.05.2026
Budget 2026 a washout for struggling families, advocates say, RNZ, 28.05.2026
Budget 2026: The great Spinoff hot-take roundtable, The Spinoff, 28.05.2026
Opposition, advocates slam Budget 2026 for failing on child poverty targets, The Herald, 28.05.2026
What’s in ‘tough love’ Budget 2026 – and what’s missing, The Spinoff, 28.05.2026
Budget 2026 at a glance: Where the Government is spending big, Stuff, 28.05.2026
Govt on track for 2029 surplus in surprise forecast reversal, Newsroom, 28.05.2026
Major social housing shake-up announced, RNZ, 21.05.2026
Press releases
Save the Children, "Budget 2026 offers little relief for children in poverty", 28.05.2026
Social Service Providers Aotearoa, "Budget provides no relief for struggling whānau", 28.05.2026
Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025
Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has published the Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025 (YHWS).
Vine has collated key findings from the YHWS 2025 related to sex, safety, and victimisation and harmful behaviour, with a focus on family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa.
Sex
- 15.7% of young people shared that they are sexually active (they have had consensual sex).
- 53.5% of these young people said they used safe sex practices to protect against STIs the last time they had sex.
- 78% of sexually active young people said that sex is a positive or enjoyable experience.
- 17.7% of all young people reported looking at porn weekly, with 5.0% of young people feeling pressured to do things they or someone else saw in porn.
Safety
- 88.9% of all young people said they felt safe at home.
- 67.7% felt safe at school.
- 67.5% felt safe online.
- 67.% felt safe in their neighbourhood.
- 7.3% said they had been in trouble with the police in the last 12 months.
- 2.3% reported being treated unfairly or picked on/hassled by the police because of their ethnicity in the last 12 months.
- 26.3% of young people said they were bullied in the past 12 months.
- Of those who said they had been bullied in the past 12 months, 21.9% said they had been physically harmed, and common reasons for being bullied included their ethnicity (28.7%), being (or being thought to be) lesbian, gay, gender diverse (21.3%), their disability or health condition (18.0%), their religion (13.5%), or their gender (10.1%).
Victimisation and harmful behaviour
- 7.4% of young people reported having a harmful experience of sexting.
- 12.5% of young people reported being touched in a sexual way or made to do sexual things they did not want to (including sexual abuse or rape).
- In the past 12 months, 49.9% of young people reported they had been yelled or sworn at by an adult in the place they live, while 7.1% were hit or physically hurt by an adult in the place they usually live.
- In the past 12 months, 5.9% reported being hit or physically harmed on purpose by an intimate partner; 41.1% by a sibling; 22.7% by another young person; 11.4% by a parent or caregiver; 3.9% by another adult.
- In the past 12 months, 16.0% of young people were treated unfairly or differently because of their ethnicity; 11.0% because of their gender; 29.2% for another reason.
Background
The Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey (YHWS) is Aotearoa’s largest nationally representative survey engaging directly with young people aimed at understanding youth health and wellbeing. It has existed in different forms for more than 25 years. In 1999, the Adolescent Health Research Group developed the Youth2000 survey series which established a foundational evidence base on youth wellbeing. In 2021, MSD built on this series by undertaking the What About Me? survey and have continued to administer the series approximately every three years since.
The YHWS 2025 is the sixth version of the survey, merging and continuing the work of the Youth2000 and What About Me? surveys. It engaged with 9,400 young people aged 13-19 who completed it on tablets at their education provider between March and September 2025. This version of the survey includes additional questions on social media, screen time, aspirations for the future, and youth psychological distress.
In the YHWS 2025, respondents were asked about:
- Demographic data
- Health (including chronic pain, menstrual health, sexual health, substance use and social media use)
- Mental health and wellbeing (including barriers to care and self-harm)
- Life factors concerning family, home, community, learning, aspirations, working, and contributing
- Harms and safety (including bullying, gambling, victimisation and harmful behaviour)
For a general overview of key statistics from the survey, see the YHWS landing page.
Related research and surveys
Youthline ASB State of the Generation Report, Youthline & ASB (2026)
This is a nationally representative survey of 1,041 rangatahi aged 12 to 24 years old across gender, region, and ethnicity, with robust sample sizes of underserved populations including rainbow, disabled, and neurodiverse communities. It found that young people identified mental health, cost-of-living, social pressure, phone addictions, social media and AI among the biggest challenges facing their generation.
Mental health and addiction service monitoring 2026 - data summary, Te Hiringa Mahara | Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (2026)
This new data summary provides updated data on access and trends for mental health and addiction services in Aotearoa. In most cases, the summary reports on data over the five-year period to June 2025. This snapshot shows that more young people aged 15-25 were experiencing very high levels of psychological distress than 10 years ago. Young people aged 19-24 were the only age group whose access to specialist care had decreased over the five years prior, while young people aged 0-18 faced the longest wait times for service and had the highest rate of declined referrals.
Sexual violence and unwanted sexual experiences among adolescents: prevalence, trends and disparities among a representative cross-sectional study of high school students in Aotearoa New Zealand, Roskvist, R. et. al., University of Auckland (2025)
Using data drawn from the Youth2000 series (2001, 2007, 2012, and 2019), this study examines the prevalence of unwanted sexual experiences among young people in Aotearoa, broken down by demographic groups alongside trends over time. It found widespread experiences of sexual violence among young people, with girls, Māori, transgender youth, and others experiencing higher prevalence. It calls for an intersectional approach to prevention, noting that inclusive, culturally and developmentally appropriate strategies are necessary to address inequity.
Counting Ourselves: Findings from the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand trans & non-binary health survey, Transgender Health Research Lab & University of Waikato (2025)
Counting Ourselves is a comprehensive national health and wellbeing survey designed by and for trans and non-binary people, led by a team of academic staff and students who are trans, non-binary, and cisgender. This 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. For more, see Vine’s news story.
Rangatahi Māori and the whānau chocolate box: Rangatahi wellbeing in whānau contexts, Te Maringi Mai o Hawaiiki et. al., Explore 20(6) (2024)
Whānau Māori are comprised of unique and vital relationships that support and scaffold rangatahi wellbeing, yet are often reduced to nuclear family structures within individualised notions of wellbeing. This research explores how whānau structures support rangatahi wellbeing through photo-projects and interviews with 51 rangatahi. It identifies and draws upon a wide array of whānau relationships, qualities and characteristics that may be likened to a ‘whānau chocolate box’ from which rangatahi can derive influence, systems of support and ideas for future identities and inspiration.
What About Me? The Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey 2021, Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora | Ministry of Social Development (2022)
This is the previous iteration of the Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey, published by MSD in 2022. It surveyed nearly 8,000 young people years 9 to 13 in their schools and communities during 2021. It examined their experiences of identity, relationships, their homes, achievements and contributions, physical and mental health, and safety and experiences of harm.
Related media
Cost of Living, AI, and Social Media concerns affecting Aotearoa’s Youth, GayExpress, 07.05.2026
The state of youth mental health: Distress is high, help is hard to reach, The Post, 18.04.2026 [paywalled]
In recent months, there has been increased media coverage of the links between intimate partner violence and suicide. In the UK, new estimates of domestic violence-related suicides and the culpable homicide conviction of Kimberley Milne’s estranged husband have received significant media attention.
Furthermore, in October 2025, the Australian Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs adopted an inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) and suicide.
Strategies to combat suicide almost never account for family violence – especially violence that is still happening. Manatū Hauora | the Ministry of Health is currently seeking feedback on their draft Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which will set the direction for how the health system improves mental health and wellbeing outcomes for New Zealanders over the next ten years. This consultation is an opportunity to strengthen visibility of the links between intimate partner violence and suicide in Aotearoa. Consultation is open until 18 May 2026.
Vine has brought together a collection of research and media about the links between intimate partner violence and suicide with an additional focus on Aotearoa-specific resources.
A note on definitions: Much of the research referenced in this News Story discusses intimate partner violence - violence that is directed at a current, or recent, intimate partner. However, a range of terms are used across the research we reference including intimate partner violence, domestic violence and family violence. When discussing specific pieces of research we mirror the terminology used by the authors. For more discussion on these terms see our Vine Key Terms page.
Intimate partner violence and suicide are closely linked
Te Tāhū Hauora | Health Quality and Safety Commission's report on femicide (deaths related to gender-based violence against women and girls) shows that 63% of maternal suicides between 2006 and 2023 had a police-reported record of family violence.
Research undertaken by Women’s Refuge shows that women’s suicides are often linked to family violence and its impacts. They found that women who have experienced violence are three times as likely to have attempted suicide in the last year, and that family violence is the biggest contributor to health burden (including mental health burden) for women of reproductive age.
The research identified common motivations for suicide when experiencing family violence including:
- Seeing no other way out of the family violence situation
- Believing there was no chance for a satisfying life ahead
- Being made to feel worthless, or told they were worthless
- Feeling powerless over their own lives and trapped by the perpetrator
- Coming up against hostile or unhelpful systems.
Gulliver and Fanslow found that women were more likely to report they had thought about taking their own life if they also reported that their partner's behaviour had impacted on their mental health, were current or former users of recreational drugs, had experienced a stillbirth/abortion/miscarriage, or had experienced emotional abuse in the previous 12 months.
Research from Dr Terry Dobbs notes that the ongoing process of colonisation contributes to Aotearoa’s disproportionate rates of wāhine and kōtiro Māori suicides, which reflects trends in other settler-colonial states and their rates of Indigenous women’s suicides. Colonisation undermines protective factors against suicide and gender-based violence including whānau structures, indigenous gender roles and gender identities, and the inherent mana of wāhine. This research discusses the need for a paradigm shift away from a solely Western biomedical model of wellbeing to include te ao Māori understanding of wellbeing and “life course approaches” that reflect te ao Māori worldviews. This includes seeking opportunities to manaaki (intervene and prevent) throughout the life course of an individual and their whānau. These approaches help ensure that “signs and signals” of suicide and violence are anticipated and addressed by services and agencies before they manifest and are responded to in culturally safe ways if they do appear.
For further reading on Māori suicide prevention in Aotearoa, see Māori Suicide Prevention Research, Policy & Practice (2020).
Research by VISION in the UK found around half of people who attempted suicide in the past year had experienced violence from a partner at some point in their life, and one in four experienced violence from a partner in the preceding year.
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) have published their submission to the Australian inquiry on DFSV and suicide. Their submission highlights the clear link between DFSV victimisation and suicide risk and makes recommendations to strengthen intervention and prevention responses.
Perpetrators of intimate partner violence are also at risk of suicide – and at risk of killing others when they do so
The Family Violence Death Review Committee’s 2021 submission on firearms regulation recorded 26 family violence deaths between 2009 and 2018 that involved a firearm. Where a firearm was used, there was an associated suicide in 7 death events, and multiple deaths recorded in 3 death events. For slightly over 50% of death events, the offender was a licensed gun holder.
VISION’s research found that people who use violence against their partners also tend to have worse mental health, and mental health services present an opportunity for intervention with this group.
Australian research from CEVAW notes perpetrator threats of suicide are often used as part of a broader pattern of coercive control. They also note that women’s homicides at the hands of their intimate partners can be misclassified as suicides.
Research from Dr Jessica Woolley summarises the literature on threats of self-harm and suicide as a form of family violence and as a documented risk factor for intimate partner homicide. This research also explores unintended consequences of current justice responses to suicide threats where family violence is present: namely, addressing such threats only in a mental health context can create barriers to victim/survivor safety.
Intimate partner violence can create suicide risk for others in the household or whānau
CEVAW notes this is particularly true for children and young people, who can be victims of intimate partner violence, or who can witness and experience violence from family members.
Vine’s Issues Paper 3 reviews the evidence on the frequency with which intimate partner violence and child maltreatment co-occur. It notes that men are more likely than women to perpetrate intimate partner violence witnessed by children and reiterates both the disruption to mother-child relationships due to intimate partner violence and the poor fathering that can accompany perpetration of intimate partner violence.
A Family Violence Death Review Committee 2017 position brief notes the need to address intimate partner violence and child abuse and neglect together and avoid practice influenced by a ‘failure to protect’ approach.
Selected bibliography
Aotearoa
Femicide: Deaths resulting from gender-based violence in Aotearoa New Zealand | Kōhuru Wahine: nā te ririhau ā-ira i te whenua o Aotearoa – Health Quality and Safety Commission (2025).
Family Violence and Suicide: Responding Well to Risk – National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges (2024).
Exploring risk factors for suicidal ideation in a population-based sample of New Zealand women who have experienced intimate partner violence – Gulliver, P. and Fanslow, J. (2013), Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
Whanaungatanga: creating opportunities that support wāhine and kōtiro Māori from kāhupo to mauri ora – Dobbs, T. (2025), Vine – Violence Information Aotearoa.
Whāia Te Mauriora - In Pursuit of Healing: Theorising connections between soul healing, tribal self-determination and Māori suicide prevention in Aotearoa / New Zealand – Lawson-Te Aho, K. (2013), Victoria University of Wellington.
Response to Public Consultation on Gun Regulations – Joint Response from the Family Violence Death Review Committee, Suicide Mortality Review Committee and the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee – Health Quality and Safety Commission (2021).
Understanding connections and relationships: Child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and parenting – Murphy, C., Paton, N., Gulliver, P., & Fanslow, J. (2013), Vine – Violence Information Aotearoa.
Six reasons why we cannot be effective with either intimate partner violence or child abuse and neglect unless we address both together – Family Violence Death Review Committee (2017).
Counting ourselves: findings from the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand trans & non-binary health survey – Yee, A. et. al. (2025), University of Waikato.
An affront to her Mana: young Māori mothers’ experiences of intimate partner violence – Dhunna, S., Lawton, B., and Cram, F. (2021), Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Māori Suicide Prevention Research, Policy & Practice – Lawson-Te Aho, K. and McClintock, K. (2020), University of Otago & Te Rau Ora.
Women’s exposure to adverse childhood experiences and other interpersonal violence types throughout the life course and their associations with diagnosed mental health conditions and suicide-related outcomes - Reid-Ellis, M., Gulliver, P., McIntosh, T., Marsh, S., & Fanslow, J. L. (2026), International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
Men’s exposure to adverse childhood experiences and other interpersonal violence types throughout the life course and their associations with diagnosed mental health conditions and suicide-related outcomes - Reid-Ellis, M., Gulliver, P., McIntosh, T., Marsh, S., & Fanslow, J. L. (2026), International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
International
VISION Policy Briefing - Domestic violence and abuse and mental and physical health – Blom, N. et. al. (2025), University of London.
Deaths by suicide in the context of domestic and family violence: Examining context, prevention and responses – Douglas, H. et. al. (2025), Academy of Social Sciences Australia & CEVAW.
ANROWS submission to the Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide - Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, (2026).
Policing perpetrator suicide threats in family violence cases: competing priorities and contemporary challenges – Woolley, J. (2024), Policing and Society.
Domestic violence and suicide in women under the care of mental health services in the UK, 2015–2021: a national observational study – Turnball, P. et. al. (2025), The Lancet Regional Health.
Domestic homicides and suspected victim suicides 2020-2024: Year 4 report – Hoeger, K. et. al. (2025), Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme & National Police Chiefs’ Council.
"The person most likely to kill a victim of domestic abuse……is themselves*": 66 ways to reduce domestic abuse related suicides – Woodhouse, T. (2025), Churchill Fellowship.
Related media
Intimate partner violence is a hidden contributor to women’s suicide, The Conversation, 01.05.2026
Abusive husband jailed for killing wife who jumped to her death, Stuff, 11.04.2026
Kimberly’s story: the tragedy that changed British legal history, The Guardian, 11.04.2026
Kat endured years of alleged relentless abuse. This threat kept her trapped, Stuff, 15.03.2026
Husband ‘threatened to dissolve wife in acid’ before her suicide, Stuff, 14.03.2026
Stalker jailed for manslaughter of former partner who killed herself, The Guardian, 28.07.2017
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We are looking for an Information Specialist to join Vine – Violence Information Aotearoa, New Zealand’s national centre for family violence and sexual violence research and information.
This is a part-time (0.6–0.8 FTE / 22.5–30 hours per week) permanent position.
In this role you will be responsible for developing and managing Vine’s information and library services, including a specialised collection of physical and digital resources. You will support the collection, organisation and dissemination of research and information for a wide range of users, including practitioners, researchers, policymakers and communities.
Working as part of a small, collaborative team, you will contribute across a range of activities, including:
- Maintaining and developing Vine’s information collection and retrieval systems
- Responding to information requests, from quick queries through to more in-depth research
- Curating and sharing content, including newsletters, bibliographies and web content
- Supporting the accessibility and usability of Vine’s online knowledge resources
- Building relationships with stakeholders across the sector
The role blends elements of librarianship with subject-focused work. While you will build knowledge in the family and sexual violence space over time, you will bring strong research capability, sound judgement, and the ability to engage with complex and sensitive information.
For more detailed information, please refer to the Position Description.
For more information about the role including how to apply, please see our Seek Advertisement. Applications close 15 May 2026. If you have questions about this role or wish to have a confidential discussion, you are welcome to contact Pauline Gulliver (Vine Research Co-Director - Tauiwi) via p.gulliver@auckland.ac.nz.
Vine 2026 Survey: we want to hear from you
Vine is your centre for family violence and sexual violence information. We are an independent resource hub that curates, connects and shares research and information with people working to end violence and grow oranga.
Being able to demonstrate that what we do at Vine is making a difference is really important.
We would like to hear your feedback about our services. We would like to know what is working well and how we could improve or do things differently. The information we gather in this survey will help us improve our services and tell people about the work we do.
As you will be aware, in 2025 we rebranded from the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse (NZFVC) to become Vine - Violence Information Aotearoa. We would particularly love to hear what you think about our new brand and website.
You can fill out the survey here.
We would be grateful if you can also share our survey with your networks or anyone else you know that uses our services.
If you have questions about this survey or want to give us feedback in a different way, contact us at info@vine.org.nz.
The Education and Workforce Select Committee have released their final report: Inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders encounter online, and the roles that Government, business, and society should play in addressing those harms (2026). The final report follows the Committee’s invitation for public submissions in July 2025 and their interim report, which was released in December 2025. For more background, see Vine’s previous news story: Public submissions open for inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders encounter online.
Findings from the final report
The final report concludes that:
“… harm to young New Zealanders from online platforms is severe and requires urgent responses from Government, business, and society alike. We consider that online harm needs to be treated as a multifaceted education, public health, and wider governmental issue. We are deeply concerned by the known and potential effects of online harm on youth development and wellbeing. Our overarching conclusion is that the Government should consider ways to improve institutional frameworks, education, and legislation underpinning the regulation of online safety, and take further steps to support parents and caregivers in protecting their young people.”
It makes 12 recommendations:
- Address legislative gaps and overlaps
- Strengthen liability for online harm
- Establish an independent national regulator for online safety
- Introduce age restrictions for social media platforms
- Ban “nudify” apps and prohibit the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake sexual imagery
- Explore options to regulate deepfake technology
- Regulate algorithmic recommendation systems
- Mandate algorithm transparency
- Restrict online advertising of alcohol, tobacco, and gambling
- Educate and empower parents, caregivers, and young people
- Promote New Zealand-based research
- Consider further matters
Many recommendations received unanimous support from Committee members. The ACT party expressed a differing view or disagreed with 7 recommendations: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12. The Green party expressed a differing view relating to recommendation 4 – introducing age restrictions for social media platforms.
Recommendation 4 – social media age restrictions
As announced in a Beehive press release in May 2025, the Minister of Education is presently leading a Government work programme to explore options to restrict young people under the age of 16 from accessing social media.
The final report notes:
“However, most of us strongly support the proposal to restrict access to social media for under-16-yearolds. We note that many submitters said that establishing an age limit for social media would help to signal expectations about appropriate social media use for parents, carers, and young people. Submitters suggested that New Zealand learn from, and potentially model its approach on, age-based restrictions recently introduced in Australia.”
Common concerns raised by submitters regarding potential age restrictions include:
- Privacy risks associated with sharing proof of identity with platforms
- Ease of evading restrictions, including through use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- Inconsistent requirements across different types of online platform, in part due to complex definitions of social media itself
- Undermining benefits of online technologies, including on educational platforms
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand’s Lisa Woods told RNZ the organisation opposed a social media ban for under 16. She said in a press release:
"Banning social media for young people doesn’t address the root causes of harm and places the burden of safety on young people and parents while allowing platforms to continue operating predatory business models… Any plan that solely puts the burden on parents and young people while leaving the toxic architecture of these platforms untouched, will have failed so many New Zealanders.”
Tāhono Trust member Anjum Rahmen told 95bFM:
“We do not support a ban for under 16s. And the reason that we don’t support that is because it is putting responsibility on individuals, on parents and children, for the harm that’s happening online and we think responsibility should be on the platforms. [...] while it sounds like a good idea, and it sounds like you’re dealing with the problem, the fact is there are a lot of vulnerable populations that are equally suffering from harm... We want a holistic approach.”
Recommendation 5 – ban “nudify” apps
The report urges the Government to ban “nudify” apps with immediate effect. It acknowledges sexualised images, including deepfakes, of children and young people are already considered objectionable content under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act, but points to the lack of direct regulation of deepfake tools or apps themselves. AI-generated images or the creation of non-consensual deepfake content are not explicitly prohibited under the Harmful Digital Communications Act. The Committee considers that:
“Web- and device-based applications that automate or substantially lower the technical barrier to creating deepfake sexual imagery of real people should be banned… The intention of our recommendation is to target, regulate, and restrict the use of deepfake tools to prevent sexual abuse. We are most concerned to address the creation and distribution of deepfake sexual imagery of children and young people—something that we consider an extreme harm.”
For more on sexual deepfake images, see Vine’s recent news stories: New evidence brief on the escalation of online violence against women in the public sphere and Netsafety Week 2025: Resources on technology-facilitated violence and online safety.
Related news: InternetNZ releases report
Ipurangi Aotearoa | InternetNZ has released their annual insights into how New Zealanders online use the Internet and how they feel about it: Aotearoa Insights Report 2025. They polled 1,003 New Zealanders aged 18 and over and found:
- Nearly half (47%) of New Zealanders who are online spend four or more hours a day on the Internet for personal use, including 63% of 18-29-year-olds.
- Four out of five New Zealanders have used AI in the last 12 months, with 1 in 5 using AI daily.
- 72% of Aotearoa feel the positives of the Internet outweigh the negatives (down from 80% in 2023).
- Pacific peoples (80%) and Māori (64%) are extremely or very concerned about the Internet being used to share dangerous or discriminatory messaging.
- 15% of people overall in Aotearoa say they have experienced online harm or harassment.
- New Zealanders with a disability or impairment are the most likely to have experienced online harm or harassment (27%), followed by Māori (20%).
- Just under a third (32%) of New Zealanders say they know where to report content that could be considered concerning, harmful, or dangerous.
High numbers of respondents also said they were very or extremely concerned about AI:
- being used to produce harmful content, such as deepfakes (68%, asked for the first time in 2025)
- being used for malicious purposes (65%, up from 58% in 2024)
- having insufficient regulation and law governing its development (64%, up from 53% in 2024)
InternetNZ chief executive Vivien Maidaborn said in a press release:
“…It’s important that we’re all participating in conversations about how [social media is] shaped and how it should, and shouldn’t, shape our lives. This is particularly important when considering the power held by global social media platforms. New Zealand needs to consider, as a society, what our expectations on platforms operating in our jurisdiction should be, given the massive role they play in our lives.”
On AI, Maidaborn also said:
“There are some really valid concerns here about AI. New technologies offer a lot of exciting and useful opportunities, but we haven’t yet laid the groundwork to ensure AI use is not exacerbating harmful use of the Internet. AI right now is a bit like a train that’s left the station before the tracks have been built.”
See more coverage of the Insights Report on Waatea News and Newsroom.
Related news: NZSIS releases report
Te Pā Whakamarumaru | New Zealand Security and Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has released New Zealand’s Security Threat Environment 2025. The assessment makes six key conclusions about New Zealand’s threat environment, including:
- The most plausible violent extremist attack scenario in New Zealand remains a lone actor who has radicalised online and prepares for violence without any intelligence forewarning. Any attacker is most likely to use easily accessible weapons.
- Grievances and polarising issues in the online information space are almost certainly driving support for a range of violent extremist ideologies within New Zealand. No one ideology currently stands out as presenting a greater threat.
- Young and vulnerable people in New Zealand are particularly at risk of radicalisation, especially while online.
As reported by Stuff, Director-General of Security Andrew Hampton told Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee:
“There’s also the ability for people to go a long way down the radicalisation path by just engaging with a computer. So that is a concern… At a very pragmatic level, I am keen for parents to take a stronger interest in what their kids are looking at online… If you look at our current active investigations... it looks like a year 13 boys’ school, and the diversity you would see there. There is not a single ideology or single ethnicity. But what is common is that these are largely people who are spending a lot of time online engaging with quite violent content.”
AUT Senior Lecturer in education Judy Bruce agrees that incidents of toxic masculinity and extremist views are increasing in our schools and in online spaces where youth hang out.
“For example, if connection and belonging needs are not met in everyday life, virtual spaces will become the ways in which [young people] seek them… Harmful content online, including violent material and extremist views, can be scary and confusing. As adults, we need to have conversations with young people that open up spaces for dialogue rather than shutting it down. The trick is to do this in a way that isn't judgmental or further entrenches harmful views or beliefs."
Related news: ANROWS release manosphere resource
ANROWS have released a new resource for educators: An Introductory Guide to the Manosphere and the Impacts for Young People, Teachers and Schools (2026). Written by Monash University researchers in partnership with ANROWS, the guide aims to help educators understand and respond to the growing influence of manosphere content in young people’s online worlds. It provides practical insights including:
- What the manosphere is and how it operates
- Key beliefs and narratives promoted online
- How algorithms and social media amplify harmful content
- Recruitment pathways targeting boys and young men
- Links between misogynistic online cultures and gender-based violence
- Practical guidance for recognising and responding to classroom behaviours.
Related media
New Zealand is losing faith in the internet, Newsroom, 09.03.2026
Teachers welcome stronger protections for rangatahi online, Waatea News, 07.03.2026
Social media ban for under-16s moves one step closer, The Spinoff, 06.03.2026
New Zealand should look overseas to address social media harm, committee lead says, RNZ, 06.03.2026
NZ spy chiefs warn of extremism risk as teenage boys dominate investigations, Stuff, 05.03.2026
Pacific people among most concerned about explicit content online, PMN, 05.03.2026
Select Committee Report Highlights Growing Harm Facing Young People Online, Waatea News, 05.03.2026
Zuckerberg grilled in landmark social media trial over teen mental health, The Guardian, 18.02.2026
Instagram and YouTube owners built 'addiction machines', trial hears, BBC, 10.02.2026
Extremist views increasing in schools, AUT, 09.02.2026
As Australia's online harm crackdown reshapes the debate, NZ must find its own path, RNZ, 08.02.2026
The pros and cons of a social media ban for young people, RNZ, 29.10.2025
Press releases
Inquiry into youth online harm, InternetNZ, 06.03.2026
Final report into youth harm online released by select committee, National, 05.03.2026
Release: Online safety inquiry a step forward, Labour, 05.03.2026
Serious issue needs serious response, not half-baked policy, ACT, 05.03.2026
New toolkit for safer sport released
A new Australian evidence-based toolkit aims to help sports organisations respond better to disclosures of gender-based violence. Safe to Speak, Bound to Act: A Toolkit for Safer Sport was created by a multi-disciplinary team from La Trobe University, The University of Sydney, and Victoria University Melbourne. The toolkit translates research and best-practice principles from health, trauma and violence-prevention sectors into a sports-specific context.
It sets out five core principles for good responses:
- making reporting easy
- having clear and fair policies
- supporting choice and autonomy
- responding with care and respect, and
- committing to ongoing improvement.
The toolkit includes resources such as scripts for responding to disclosures, checklists for organisational readiness and a clear roadmap outlining what a good response looks like from first disclosure through to follow-up and review.
For more information, see the Victoria University Melbourne news release: Australian sport still has a gender-based violence problem. Our new guide might help tackle it.
Research to inform development of the toolkit
The toolkit followed research released in November 2025 as part of the team’s final report to the IOC Olympic Studies Centre: Addressing gender-based violence against women in sport: strengthening sports integrity units response to disclosures (ADVAWS).
The project brought together policy analysis, a systematic review, and interviews with both integrity practitioners and women and gender-diverse people who had experienced and attempted to report gender-based violence within Australian sport. The report found that gender-based violence against women is occurring in all levels of Australian sport. Despite growing public attention on the issue, current systems intended to protect women remain fragmented, difficult to navigate, and not gender-based violence-informed.
It found that the following solutions were needed:
- independent, gender-informed complaint pathways
- expansion of Sport Integrity Australia’s remit to include adult gender-based violence
- clear, staged reporting processes with defined timelines and transparent communication
- trauma-informed supports, including welfare officers and links to counselling
- mandatory education and training for coaches, volunteers, and administrators
- meaningful accountability for individuals and clubs, not symbolic actions
- inclusive and accessible processes for gender-diverse people
- support for those responding to disclosures
- victim-survivor involvement in designing, testing, and reviewing systems, and
- data collection and public reporting to drive transparency and improvement.
Related research
See below two other international toolkits and handbooks that aim to address gender-based violence in sport.
UN Women toolkit for sports ecosystem with a gender perspective (2025)
This toolkit is a practical resource developed by UN Women in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to support sports organisations and institutions in integrating gender equality across all levels of sports. It provides guidance, indicators, good practices, and pathways for action to accelerate progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5.
This handbook released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Women along with the Spotlight Initiative. It calls on policy makers and sports practitioners to work together to address violence against women and girls in sport. The handbook offers a shared understanding of the problem, practical tools for addressing violence against women and girls in sport, and proposed areas for effective collaboration.
Related news: Sports NZ withdraws guidance for inclusion of transgender people in community sport
In July 2025, the Government directed Sport NZ | Ihi Aotearoa to remove their document Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport - Sport NZ 2022 from their website. This followed Government direction to review and update these guidelines in October 2024. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission condemned the government’s move in a press release:
“It is a sad day when the government directs the kaitiaki of our play, active recreation, and sport system in Aotearoa New Zealand to withdraw the Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport and remove the document from their website.”
In November 2025, Auckland Pride filed for judicial review in the High Court over the Government’s direction to Sport NZ. Auckland Pride spokesperson Bhen Goodsir said in a press release that both the facts and the law in the case are clear.
“In documents released by the Minister, he has said he did not consider the Bill of Rights Act, the Human Rights Act or Sport NZ’s legal obligations when making this decision.”
Te Ngākau Kahukura, a partnership with Rainbow communities held within Ara Taiohi, have a key topic guide on Sports Inclusion for Rainbow participation in sport.
Related media
'It's sad': Former Samoan tennis star calls out sport's culture of abuse, RNZ, 23.02.2026
New Report Finds Women Put at Further Risk When Reporting Abuse in Sport, Waatea News, 13.02.2026
How can we ensure our kids are safe playing sport?, RNZ, 05.12.2025
Transgender inclusive sports guidelines had positive impact for community, RNZ, 24.07.2025
Government asks Sport NZ to update trans inclusive community sport guidelines, RNZ, 09.10.2024
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