Various media outlets are reporting this morning on the allegation that a serious sex assault took place in the female toilets of a backpackers, the Mint Bar in Wanaka, in the early hours of the morning.
The woman, age 22, who is said to be a visitor to the town, may be an international student or tourist, although this has yet to be confirmed. Police say they want to speak to a young Caucasian male who was seen in the vicinity at the time.
Mint Bar is said to be Wanaka’s only backpacker and apres ski bar and is a popular nightspot.
Violent crime is on the increase in New Zealand, last year there were 9% more violent offences in the country.
According to data held by Statistics New Zealand in 2009 there were 1971 convictions for sexual assault.
But New Zealand has a shockingly low conviction rate for rape – 9% of sexual offences get reported to police, and of those only 13% of rapes resulted in convictions. The median age of victims is 23 and Europeans account for 61% of the victims. Source
Sexual violence is New Zealand’s most costly crime, the estimated social cost is $1.2 billion, almost as much as what the failure of South Canterbury Finance cost the country.
See also:
New Zealand has the highest number of women as a percentage of the population victimised by sexual assault – Nationmaster data
Posts tagged Violence against women in New Zealand
E2NZ.org 
Minge must be New Zealand’s down under interpretation of the Vagina Monologues?
Anna Faris’ experience on the streets of Auckland, and her subsequent vilification in the NZ press, is an excellent example of why rapes and sexual assaults are under-reported in New Zealand. Not only are they un-investigated but also the victim is publicly accused of *asking for it* in some way.
Perhaps women in NZ should only venture out with a male guardian and wear a Hijab in public? At least the colour would be in keeping with New Zealand’s brand image and it could have modest silver ferns as discrete decoration.
It’s not that there are more rapes, it’s just that there is excellent reporting here, you know (NOT – your treatment will be so savage and doubting that the ordeal is rarely worth pressing). The relations between the sexes are more mutually distrustful than anywhere else I have personally seen, and I have lived all over the world.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1011/S00125/a-celebration-and-interrogation-of-womanhood-in-nz.htm
“MINGE is a play at BATS Theatre in Wellington from 1- 11 December 2010 – a celebration and an interrogation of womanhood in New Zealand”.
Minge? Ugh. Nothing like Stockholm Syndrome in New Zealand!
http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/t/the-sex-industry-in-new-zealand-a-literature-review/part-i-the-sex-industry-in-new-zealand-3
“It has always amazed me how many straight Kiwi blokes, when drunk, look for any port in a storm” -Georgina Beyer quote
“One sex worker remarked, “Lots of guys in New Zealand want to be abused and tortured,” ” -Kedgley and Cederman study
It is a shame they do not put the sort of effort into DV awareness that they put into the 100% Pure campaign, now stop laughing…
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/hilarious-domestic-violence-poster-of-the-day/