Published online:
15 November 2019
This report describes New Zealanders that have been made to have sex against their will, referred to as non-volitional sex. It covers their age at the most recent non-volitional sex and their relationship with the perpetrator.
Over 10,000 respondents aged 16–74 years completed the sexual and reproductive health module in the 2014/15 Health Survey.
Use our Sexual and Reproductive Health Data Explorer to see the results from the 2014/15 Health Survey.
If you have any queries please email [email protected].
Overview of key findings
- Sex against an individual’s will after the age of 13, referred to in this document as non-volitional sex, has been experienced by many more women (one in nine) than men (one in 30) aged 16–74 years; over half of these experiences occurred when the people concerned were teenagers.
- Māori men and women were more likely to have experienced non-volitional sex than non-Māori, and Asian women were less likely than non-Asian women to have experienced it.
- Women currently living in the most deprived areas were more likely than those in the least deprived areas to have experienced non-volitional sex.
- Women and men mostly knew the perpetrator of their most recent experience of non-volitional sex, either as a former or current intimate partner (34 percent of women, 16 percent of men), a family member or friend (26 percent of women, 31 percent of men), or as an acquaintance (22 percent of women, 28 percent of men).
- Among Māori and Pacific women, the most recent perpetrator was more likely to have been a family member or friend than it was for non-Māori and non-Pacific women.
Go to Sexual and reproductive health to find out what’s being done in this area.
Related publications
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Data Explorer
- First Heterosexual Sex: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Heterosexual Sexual Behaviour: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Sexual Orientation: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Contraception: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Pregnancy Planning: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Sexually Transmitted Infections: Findings from the 2014/15 New Zealand Health Survey
- Indicator Interpretation Guide 2014/15: Sexual and Reproductive Health Module
- Questionnaires and Content Guide 2014/15: New Zealand Health Survey
- Methodology Report 2014/15: New Zealand Health Survey
- The New Zealand Health Survey Sample Design, Years 1–3 (2011–2013)