Data and research

Family violence is when a person harms or controls a family member, and intimate partner violence (IPV) is when a person harms or controls an intimate partner.

The harm or control can be physical, emotional, psychological, financial, or a combination of things.

Both terms are often referred to as domestic abuse or domestic violence. 

• A 2019 study found that 55% of women have experienced one or more types of abuse from intimate partners, ranging from physical or sexual violence, psychological abuse, controlling behaviours or economic abuse. (University of Auckland, 2023)
• In 2023, New Zealand was 9th equal amongst OECD countries for the percentage of women who have experienced intimate partner violence at some time in their lifetime. (OECD, 2023)
• Women are 2.4 times more likely than men to experience intimate partner violence, and 24% of women experience one of more IPV offences during their lifetimes. (Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Crime & Victims Survey (NZCVS) Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• A comparison of surveys from 2003 and 2019 found that women’s lifetime experience of controlling behaviour from partners increased from 8.2% to 13.4% over this period. (University of Auckland, 2021)
• Māori experience almost three times more IPV incidents than the national average, and 35% of wāhine Māori have experienced at least one IPV offence in their lifetimes. (NZCVS Cycle 4, 2020/21)
• 49% of wāhine Māori experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. (New Zealand Family Violence Study, 2023)
• Rainbow women are more likely to experience IPV in their lifetimes – 44% of rainbow women have experienced IPV at least once. For bisexual women the rate is higher at 50%. (NZCVS Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• More than 100,000 adults experience psychological violence each year. Women are slightly more likely than men to be victims of psychological violence. Māori and those aged 15 to 29 years old, are almost twice as likely. (NZCVS Cycle 1, 2018)
• 74% of people killed by their partners between 2007 and 2021 were women. (New Zealand Police, 2024)
• 51% of all women who died from IPV between 2009 and 2018 were in the process of separating from their violent partner. (National Mortality Review Committee, 2021)
• Globally, it is estimated that between 38 and 40% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners. (World Health Organisation)
• Family violence was estimated at up to $7 billion NZD per year in 2014 and is estimated to cost employers at least $368 million per year. (The Glenn Inquiry)

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

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experience sexual assault in their lifetimes. (Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Crime & Victims Survey (NZCVS) Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• Wāhine Māori (43%) and Pākehā women (41%) have much higher rates of lifetime experience of sexual assault than women of other ethnicities. (NZCVS Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• 65% of women in the rainbow community experience sexual assault in their lifetimes. For bisexual women, this rate stands at 76%. (NZCVS Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• Disabled adults are 25% more likely to experience sexual assault in their lifetimes than non-disabled adults. (NZCVS Cycle 5, 2021/22)
• 38% of women have experienced sexual harassment in the past five years compared to 23% of men. Young women, bisexual workers, and disabled workers are especially likely to experience sexual harassment. (Human Rights Commission, 2022)
• The cost of sexual violence was estimated at $6.9 billion per year in 2020. (BERL, 2021)
• A 2023 study into attrition (the rate at which reported crimes fall out of the justice system) found 55,786 sexual violence victimisations reported in New Zealand between April 2017 and March 2023. Of these, only 42% resulted in court action, and 12% resulted in a conviction. (Ministry of Justice, 2023)
• 89.9% of sexual assault offences from 2018 to 2024 went unreported to Police (NZCVS Cycle 7), 2023/24. When considered alongside the attrition study, this suggests that only 4.2% of sexual assault victimisations result in charges being laid, and only 1.2% result in convictions.
• However in 2024 there was a significant increase in the number of victims reporting at least one sexual assault to Police. From October 2023 to October 2024 31.6% of victims (28,000) reported at least one assault to Police, compared with only 6.5% (5,000) in 2018. (NZCVS Cycle 7, 2023/24)

Online harm is when an act of violence is committed, assisted, or aggravated using information and communication technology (mobile phones, the Internet, social media, and video games).

• In a survey of 4,000 women worldwide, around 1/3 of New Zealand women surveyed said they experienced online abuse and harassment. (Amnesty International, 2017)
• The prevalence of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls globally ranges from 16 to 58%, with Gen Z and Millennials being the most affected. (UN Women, 2024)
• In the last 12 months, Netsafe had 7,782 reports of online harm from women. 34% of those were deemed to qualify under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. (Netsafe)
• 7 in 10 teens in New Zealand have experienced at least one type of unwanted digital communication in the past year, mainly through social media. Not all resulted in harm or distress. (Ministry for Women and Netsafe, 2018)
• A 2024 study of New Zealand Parliamentarians found that, of 54 MPs who completed a survey, 98% had experienced harassment, ranging from disturbing communications to actual or attempted physical violence. (University of Otago, 2024)
• 96% of the MPs surveyed had been harassed over social media, and over half had been threatened. This included threats of physical violence (40%), sexual violence (14%), threats made towards MP’s family members (19%), threats towards MPs’ staff (12%), and death threats (27%). (University of Otago, 2024)
• A follow-up study of the gender-based harassment experienced by 11 women MPs found misogyny and racism were frequent elements in the harassment experienced, and responding to abuse came at a great personal cost to the MPs. Online abuse was seen by the MPs as evolving rapidly over recent years, in part as a result of political polarisation and major events such as the Covid-19 pandemic. (University of Otago, 2025)
• A 2022 survey of local government officials showed that 50% experienced racism and gender discrimination in their role, and 43% experienced other harassment such as prejudiced, threatening, or derogatory behaviours. (LGNZ, 2022)
• Wāhine Māori, as well as other diverse women, in the spotlight are increasingly the primary targets of attacks online. Slurs, threats of death, violence, and sexual violence were normalised, and they were targeted with public stalking, physical attacks, and receiving threatening letters. (Disinformation Project, 2023)
• 73% of women journalists reported experiencing online violence. (UNESCO, 2020)

Economic harm and abuse involves making, or attempting to make, a person financially dependent on another person. This can include by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding access to money, and/or forbidding attendance at school or employment.

Economic abuse is a subset of psychological abuse under the Family Violence Act 2018.

• Approximately 1 in 7 women, or 15%, who have been in a relationship have been affected by economic abuse. (University of Auckland, 2024)
• Relative to other ethnic groups, Māori women had the highest prevalence (22.1%) of experiencing any economic abuse. Pacific women had the lowest prevalence of 8.1%. (University of Auckland, 2024)
• A comparison of surveys from 2003 and 2019 found that women’s lifetime experience of economic abuse doubled from 4.5% to 8.9% over this period. (University of Auckland, 2021)