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Aotearoa New Zealand has an unacceptably high rate of harmful sexual behaviour. The prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour disproportionately affects some population groups and communities.
Data on the prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour experienced by minority groups is limited, or in some cases unavailable. This reflects broader gaps in research and data collection rather than an absence of need or lived experience.
Data Snapshot: Sexual assault over a person’s lifetime
- 35% or 1 in 3 women experience sexual assault over their lifetime.
- 12% or 1 in 8 men experience sexual assault over their lifetime.
- 30% or 1 in 3 Māori adults experience sexual assault over their lifetime.
- 30% or 1 in 3 transgender and non-binary people experience sexual violence over their lifetime.
- Disabled adults are about 25% more likely than non-disabled adults to experience sexual violence over their lifetime.
- 1 in 2 or 51% lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults experience sexual assault over their lifetime.
Information on Impacts During the Harm
Experiencing harmful sexual behaviour can be deeply overwhelming and may cause your body to respond in ways you did not choose or control. These reactions are automatic survival responses that can occur when someone feels threatened. During an assault, you may have felt disconnected, frozen, or unable to act – even though you were doing the best you could to survive. Many survivors experience these trauma responses, which can include:
When someone is faced with a traumatic situation, there is usually no time or ability to choose how to respond. Fear responses happen automatically when the brain detects danger, without conscious thought or decision-making. In those moments, the body and brain act instinctively to maximise safety. Whatever response occurred was your nervous system doing its best to protect you at the time.
Information Resources
- Consent: Consent - Body Safe New Zealand
- Sexual Violation: Sexual harm - Community Law
- Dating Violence: Areyouok
- Tech-facilitated coercive control: Netsafe
- Sexual Harassment: Human Rights Commission
- Stalking: Victim Support
- Distribution of intimate recordings: Netsafe
- NZSL Understanding Family and Sexual Violence: Deaf Aotearoa
- Pet support for escaping family violence: Pet Refuge
- Protection Order: Ministry of Justice
Myth-Busting
Fact
The majority of sexual violence is actually committed by someone the victim-survivor knows – a friend, partner, family member, hall member, colleague, or acquaintance. This myth is particularly harmful as it can cause victim-survivors to doubt their own experiences when the accused person is someone they trusted.
Fact
The majority of sexual violence is actually committed by someone the victim-survivor knows – a friend, partner, family member, hall member, colleague, or acquaintance. This myth is particularly harmful as it can cause victim-survivors to doubt their own experiences when the accused person is someone they trusted.
Fact
Responsibility for harmful sexual behaviour lies entirely with the person who chose to commit it – full stop. What someone wears, how they behave, or where they choose to go is never an invitation for an assault. No clothing, no location, and no action transfers blame from the accused person to the victim. Millions of people wear the same clothes or visit the same places every day without being assaulted, which makes clear that the only variable that matters is the accused person’s choice.
Fact
Responsibility for harmful sexual behaviour lies entirely with the person who chose to commit it – full stop. What someone wears, how they behave, or where they choose to go is never an invitation for an assault. No clothing, no location, and no action transfers blame from the accused person to the victim. Millions of people wear the same clothes or visit the same places every day without being assaulted, which makes clear that the only variable that matters is the accused person’s choice.
Fact
A person who is intoxicated cannot give meaningful, informed consent. If anything, someone who takes advantage of another person’s impaired state is making a deliberate choice to exploit their vulnerability – which makes the harm more serious, not less. Being drunk or under the influence is never consent, and it never makes what happened less real or less valid.
Fact
A person who is intoxicated cannot give meaningful, informed consent. If anything, someone who takes advantage of another person’s impaired state is making a deliberate choice to exploit their vulnerability – which makes the harm more serious, not less. Being drunk or under the influence is never consent, and it never makes what happened less real or less valid.
Fact
Going somewhere with someone (e.g. a room, house, or car) is consent to being in that space, nothing more. Consent to one thing is never blanket consent to everything else. People go to other’s rooms for countless reasons, and everyone has the right to change their mind at any point. A clear, ongoing, enthusiastic yes is required for each and every sexual activity – location tells us nothing about that.
Fact
Going somewhere with someone (e.g. a room, house, or car) is consent to being in that space, nothing more. Consent to one thing is never blanket consent to everything else. People go to other’s rooms for countless reasons, and everyone has the right to change their mind at any point. A clear, ongoing, enthusiastic yes is required for each and every sexual activity – location tells us nothing about that.
Fact
Fragmented or incomplete memory is actually one of the most well-documented responses to trauma. When a person experiences something deeply frightening or overwhelming, the brain’s stress response can interfere with how memories are encoded and stored – meaning gaps, inconsistencies, or unclear details are entirely possible, not signs of dishonesty.
Fact
Fragmented or incomplete memory is actually one of the most well-documented responses to trauma. When a person experiences something deeply frightening or overwhelming, the brain’s stress response can interfere with how memories are encoded and stored – meaning gaps, inconsistencies, or unclear details are entirely possible, not signs of dishonesty.
Fact
Harmful sexual behaviour can be perpetrated by anyone, regardless of gender, and can be experienced by anyone, regardless of gender. Men can be and are sexually assaulted by women, by other men, and by people of any gender. This myth is particularly harmful because it can leave male survivors feeling invisible, ridiculed, or unable to come forward, compounding the harm they have already experienced.
Fact
Harmful sexual behaviour can be perpetrated by anyone, regardless of gender, and can be experienced by anyone, regardless of gender. Men can be and are sexually assaulted by women, by other men, and by people of any gender. This myth is particularly harmful because it can leave male survivors feeling invisible, ridiculed, or unable to come forward, compounding the harm they have already experienced.
Fact
There is no standard timeline for disclosing harmful sexual behaviour. Victim-survivors may stay silent for many years, for a variety of reasons: fear of not being believed, shame, the power or status of the accused person, concern for their own safety, or simply not having the emotional capacity to confront it. Delayed disclosures are extremely common and does not cast any doubt on whether the event occurred. Many victim-survivors only feel able to speak after years of processing, or when they see others sharing similar experiences.
Fact
There is no standard timeline for disclosing harmful sexual behaviour. Victim-survivors may stay silent for many years, for a variety of reasons: fear of not being believed, shame, the power or status of the accused person, concern for their own safety, or simply not having the emotional capacity to confront it. Delayed disclosures are extremely common and does not cast any doubt on whether the event occurred. Many victim-survivors only feel able to speak after years of processing, or when they see others sharing similar experiences.
Fact
False allegations of harmful sexual behaviour are rare. Research consistently estimates they account for a very small percentage of reports, broadly in line with false reporting rates for other serious crimes. Meanwhile, harmful sexual behaviour is significantly underreported, meaning the far more common reality is that victim-survivors choose not to come forward at all.
Fact
False allegations of harmful sexual behaviour are rare. Research consistently estimates they account for a very small percentage of reports, broadly in line with false reporting rates for other serious crimes. Meanwhile, harmful sexual behaviour is significantly underreported, meaning the far more common reality is that victim-survivors choose not to come forward at all.
Fact
Being in a relationship with someone does not grant permanent, unconditional consent to any sexual activity. Harmful sexual behaviour within relationships and marriages is real, and not that uncommon.
Fact
Being in a relationship with someone does not grant permanent, unconditional consent to any sexual activity. Harmful sexual behaviour within relationships and marriages is real, and not that uncommon.
Fact
A physical response is an involuntary, automatic bodily reaction – is it not an indicator of desire, consent, or enjoyment. The body can respond physiologically to sexual stimulation even in situations of fear, pain, or distress. This is a well-established biological reality, not a contraction of the person’s account.
Fact
A physical response is an involuntary, automatic bodily reaction – is it not an indicator of desire, consent, or enjoyment. The body can respond physiologically to sexual stimulation even in situations of fear, pain, or distress. This is a well-established biological reality, not a contraction of the person’s account.
