Reporting To Police

Whether sexual violence is happening to you right now or has happened to you a long time ago, you are always able to report this to the police. In New Zealand there is no statute of limitations; you are free to report when you are ready, if you choose to do so.

The New Zealand Police has made some big changes to their processes around dealing with reports of sexual violence. Senior Sergeant Tanya Van Ooyen says, “We’ve made some significant changes to put victims at the centre of the heart of everything that we do. We’ve moved away from the 80s and the 90s to provide a supportive, inclusive, safe and confidential service for our victims and their families, and we want to do right by them by doing everything that we can to encourage them to report to police.”

The New Zealand Police understands that talking about sexual violence can be extremely difficult, and that reporting sexual violence might be scary for some people. To help with this process, the police offer to pair you with a support person from a specialist sexual assault support service. However, you are welcome to have a friend or whānau member as your support person instead. No confidential information will be shared without your consent.

For a detailed description of how to report sexual violence and what to expect, go to http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/sexual-assault/what-can-i-do-if-i-have-been-sexually-assaulted. This page also provides videos detailing each step of the process.