This week is Rape Awareness Week in New Zealand.

Latest figures indicate that one in every three women and one in eight men experience sexual violence at some stage in their lifetime.

Between November 2020 and November 2021, about 78,000 New Zealanders experienced sexual assault.

One in four New Zealand girls may be sexually abused before they turn 16. About 90% of the abuse will be done by someone they know.

HELP has been a specialist provider of sexual abuse support services in Auckland since 1982.

Executive director and clinical psychologist Kathryn McPhillips told The Front Page that in recent years there has been work done to prevent retraumatising victims.

“There were pilot courts in Auckland which involved training court staff and training judges about the retraumatisation of victims and how to work with them in ways which would retraumatise them less.

“Judges introducing themselves before the trial, letting victims know that it was okay to take a break if they need it, that kind of thing has been really helpful,” she said.

McPhillips said while there has been a lot of change, we are nowhere near where we need to be yet.

“We’d like to change the fact finder in the court to a judge and two trained jurors. What happens now is that defence lawyers do their job often by undermining the credibility of the victim and putting it back on them... We would rather have judges asking the questions necessary and defence lawyers only asking questions that were not covered,” she said.

She said it’s frustrating when a survivor has gone through the entire process for a perpetrator to be given a disappointing sentence.

“Regardless of their future prospects, they have already harmed the person’s future prospects because sexual assault isn’t a one-night thing. For many people, it’s something that they carry through their lives for a very long time, if not forever.

“Our nervous systems don’t really fully recover from being harmed. It can lead to you being more likely to develop PTSD throughout your lifetime. Some people respond by isolating themselves and not going out. The more you withdraw from the life and the world and people, the much narrower your whole life is going forward,” she said.

The Justice Select Committee has looked at a bill that would stop children in court from being accused of consenting to sexual activity.

Consent is still a legal defence to those charged with rape in New Zealand, even if the alleged victim was a child at the time.

The law allows for children who are victims of sexual offending to be cross-examined about whether they liked, wanted, or even enjoyed what has happened to them.

This was highlighted in 2022, when the defence of a man charged with raping a 12-year-old girl centred around it being consensual. The victim was called a liar, blamed for initiating sex, and questioned why she didn’t report it at the time if she was raped.

“That bill would stop any child under 12 from being challenged about consent. We’d really like to see that fast-tracked in as soon as possible because it’s really quite an indictment on our society that we challenge 6-year-olds about having consented to sexual things done to them by adults,” McPhillips said.

Sexual harm – Where to get help

If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time, 24/7:

• Call 0800 044 334

• Text 4334

• Email [email protected]

• For more info or to web chat, visit safetotalk.nz

Alternatively, contact your local police station – click here for a list.

If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.

Listen to the full episode here.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.