New data on violence against LGBTQ+ people makes ‘grim reading’ and undermines New Zealand’s inclusive reputation

New Zealand is ranked the tenth most inclusive country by international legal standards and has a reputation for being forward-thinking and progressive, especially when it comes to the rights of sexually and gender diverse people.

But recent high-profile hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community suggest we may not be as progressive as our global reputation suggests.

Painting over rainbow crosswalks in Gisborne and Auckland might seem like a relatively minor crime. But they highlight the insidious – and increasingly obvious – nature of prejudice against the rainbow community.

A major concern for members of this community is how easily such prejudices can escalate into criminal acts against them. And there are signs of a worrying trend. The number of reported hate crimes against transgender people increased by 42% between 2022 and 2023.

This is confirmed by foreign studies. According to a US study, gay/lesbian and bisexual men are significantly more likely to be victims of violence than heterosexual men and women.

But how do the levels of violence and crime experienced by LGBTQ+ people here compare to the general population of New Zealand? Our new research sheds light on victimization rates among New Zealand’s LGBTQ+ population for the first time. This is a dark read.

High rates of crime victimization

Our study used data from the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS).

NZCVS surveyed around 32,000 New Zealanders between 2018 and 2022. Participants were asked about their experiences with crime. The survey collected information on reported and unreported crimes and asked participants about their sociodemographic characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

LGBTQ+ individuals include those whose sexual orientation is gay/lesbian, bisexual, or other, or where they are gender diverse or where gender identity and biological sex are different (also called transgender).

We found that LGBTQ+ people are significantly more likely to be victims of crime than non-LGBTQ+ people.

Nearly half of LGBTQ+ respondents (46%) reported being the victim of at least one crime in the previous year, compared with a third of non-LGBTQ+ people (31%).

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Read more: New Zealand’s hate speech proposals need more information and wider debate before they become law

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Members of the LGBTQ+ community were also much more likely to be repeat victims of crime. According to the survey, approximately 22% of LGBTQ+ people experienced more than one victimization in the previous year, compared to 11% of non-LGBTQ+ people.

Two groups in particular stood out: bisexuals and transgender/gender diverse people.

One possible explanation for crime rates against LGBTQ+ people is that they have above-average risk factors unrelated to their sexual orientation or gender identity. For example, they are younger and have lower incomes on average.

But our study refutes this explanation. Even after controlling for these other risk factors, rates of victimization among LGBTQ+ individuals were much higher than among non-LGBTQ+ individuals.

Motivating factors

NZCVS has also collected information about the suspected motive for the crime. Response options included sexual orientation, gender, or general discrimination.

We found that LGBTQ+ people were more likely to say that the perceived reason for the crime was their sexual orientation or gender, compared to non-LGBTQ+ people.

The consequences of these offenses were also more severe for LGBTQ+ people.

They were more likely to be physically injured or require time off from work. They were also more likely to experience less visible consequences of violence: less satisfaction with life and greater feelings of insecurity.

Living up to New Zealand’s inclusive reputation

In the long term, understanding how victimization affects LGBTQ+ people can help shape policies that are better equipped to prevent crime and support victims. This includes increasing awareness and knowledge in the sexual and family violence sectors to prevent and support affected rainbow communities.

But until that happens, crime victimization continues to disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ individuals. New Zealand needs to do something to close this gap.

Our research highlights the serious gap between the way New Zealand is perceived on the world stage (safe and inclusive) and the reality of our LGBTQ+ community (increasingly unsafe and threatened by intolerance).

New Zealand’s laws must ensure that crimes against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity are not tolerated. The ongoing review of the Human Rights Act is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to explicitly protect trans, non-binary and intersex people from discrimination.

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The authors would like to thank Tabby Besley for her feedback. Tubby is the Managing Director of InsideOut, a company that provides resources, workshops, advice, advocacy and support for all things rainbow communities.

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