Panui December 2011

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Contents

Family violence remains key issue for New Zealand
Enjoy the festive season
Earthquake impacts on women’s employment
WEConnect supports women businesses
New website for female architecture graduates
International studies rate New Zealand’s progress
An overview of women in New Zealand
In brief

Family violence remains key issue for New Zealand

While the recent crime statistics have shown a decrease in family violence offences which is positive, it’s too early to know if this is a trend. Rowena Phair, Chief Executive, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, says family violence remains a major issue for New Zealand, requiring ongoing efforts across government and non-government agencies. 

‘We are pleased to see a drop in the official rate of family violence for the 2010/11 year but we need to acknowledge many women do not report episodes of violence. Official statistics don’t reflect this.’

‘Family violence is a very complex issue,’ she said.

"At this time of year we ask people to look after each other as they take part in and celebrate festive season activities.

‘The human and social costs from family violence are high and the impacts can be carried over generations. We support initiatives that work to bring the rate down such as the It’s Not Ok and White Ribbon campaigns.

‘We also acknowledge the focus of Police on family violence and support from other government and non-government agencies in preventing and responding to family violence.’

‘At this time of year we ask people to look after each other as they take part in and celebrate festive season activities,’ Rowena said.

New Zealand Crime Statistics

The New Zealand Crime Statistics 2010/2011: A Summary of Recorded and Resolved Offence Statistics present a snapshot of data relating to offences that are reported to Police and occur within a given year.

The statistics for the year ended June 2011 show a decrease in crime rates, including rates of family violence and murders. Overall, recorded family violence offences decreased by 3 percent in 2010/2011. Within this figure, family violence assaults decreased by 2 percent.

There was also an 11 percent drop in the offence category ‘male assaults female’. This offence category includes assaults that are committed within various contexts, not limited to family contexts.

It is often used as a proxy measure for intimate partner violence, because most assaults against women are perpetrated by partners. However, the rate of sexual offences has increased by 12 percent.

Rowena says that there is not enough information available to say what caused the changes in the crime statistics. She says it could be changes in reporting patterns, a change in prevalence, or normal fluctuations in crime rates.

Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier has also questioned whether the crime statistics ‘tell a true story’. He told the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges conference that it was premature to suggest that rates of family violence are dropping to any great extent. He said that continuing investment in violence programmes and support for victims of violence is needed.

Enjoy the festive season

From the chief executive

Kia ora everyone

The end of the year is fast approaching and for many of us, it will be the end of a long year. We have had some tough battles which have tested our resilience and our communities.

On the positive side we have strengthened the ties that bind us as a nation and as communities. We have seen unprecedented generosity from individuals, organisations and companies in the response to the Canterbury earthquakes, and to the other major events that have happened this year.

We have seen a rekindled community spirit and increased sense of looking out for our family, friends and neighbours. This is encouraging for our work, which is focused on improving social and economic outcomes, and ensuring that everyone around us has opportunities to be the best they can be.

We have continued work on our priorities of increasing women’s economic independence; increasing the number of women in leadership; and enabling women to lead secure lives, free from violence.

I am pleased with our progress during the year and to have gained new champions who are actively addressing inequality issues. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – and it certainly makes our job easier.

New Zealand continues to be respected internationally for our work on gender inequality and attracts interest from international bodies developing gender inequality policies. The recent visit from the World Bank was an example where we could show New Zealand’s progress.

This year I reviewed our agency to ensure we had the right structure and roles to maintain and grow effectiveness. This resulted in a shift in resources from support services to high priority policy development.

I am excited to have now started a new policy project on increasing women’s economic independence. This six-month project will specifically investigate policies to increase the economic returns from women’s skills now and into the future. Achieving gains in this area will benefit women, their families and the economy.

External feedback has shown a significant improvement in the quality of our policy analysis and advice. Recently the Ministry came out top in an NZEIR report for our policy advice. This report judges our policy advice against advice from the other government agencies. We were proud to be first and I am committed to keeping us at the top.

I would like to acknowledge our partners, from government, nongovernment agencies, community organisations and the private sector, who have assisted during the year. Thank you for helping work towards better outcomes for women in New Zealand.

I wish you an enjoyable and safe festive season and all the best for 2012.

Ngā mihi,

Rowena Phair
Chief Executive,
Ministry of Women’s Affairs

Canterbury earthquake impact on crime

International research on behaviours following a major disaster shows there is often an increase in violence against women due to the stress and impacts of the disaster. It is too early to tell the full impacts of the Canterbury February 2011 earthquake on the incidence of family violence.

What we have seen is a decrease in the official crime statistics relating to the Canterbury districts. These statistics show a decrease of 15.6 percent in overall recorded crime during the 2010/11 year. The statistics also show a slight decrease (0.4 percent) in recorded family violence offences in the Canterbury district following the February 2011 earthquake.

Early media reports indicated that Police were attending more incidents of family violence and that more women were seeking help from women’s refuges. The decline in Police statistics is not necessarily at odds with these reports. It is possible that Police were called to a greater number of minor disturbances following the earthquake, but on attending found that no offence had been committed. It is also possible that a greater number of women in abusive relationships sought support from refuges, but did not report the violence to the Police. The Ministry will be working with its partners to further analyse this issue.

Police reporting

• The New Zealand Crime Statistics 2010/2011: A Summary of Recorded and Resolved Offence Statistics is an annual report of official crime statistics.
• The category of offences called ‘family violence offences’ is not limited to assaults or other violent offences. It can include any offence uncovered when Police are called out to a family violent incident, such as possession of drugs or firearms.
• The ‘sexual assault and other related offences’ category includes sexual acts that are non-consensual, or where consent is proscribed, such as sex with minors.

Earthquake impacts on women’s employment

Labour market analysis has shown that women’s employment has been more affected than men’s as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes. Initiatives are underway to address some of these effects.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Statistics New Zealand have investigated the impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes on the labour market.

The Ministry’s Director, Policy, Joanna Gordon said that differing effects on men and women were starting to emerge. These appear consistent with the findings of studies of similar events overseas.

Statistics New Zealand has stated that in the year to September 2011, employment in Canterbury has decreased by 8 percent (26,800). This compares with an increase of 2.8 percent in employment across the rest of New Zealand.

Women accounted for 70 percent of the decrease in employment in Canterbury with the number of women decreasing by 19,200, in the year to September 2011.

Joanna said the impacts have been varying, according to different sectors.

‘It is no surprise that we have seen construction jobs in Canterbury jumping ahead while the retail trade and accommodation sectors have suffered major job losses,’ she said.

In the construction industry for the year to September 2011, an additional 4,500 jobs have been created and women accounted for 8.9 percent of this increase. The retailand accommodation industry have been most affected, with a decrease of 12,600 jobs; women accounted for almost 90 percent of this decrease.

Joanna says there is a link between impacts on employment and other sectors.

‘For example, demand for early childcare education can decrease if a large number of women leave the workforce. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is happening in Christchurch and we are working with the Ministry of Education to obtain more information’, she said.

Joanna said that if women are forced to leave the labour market, it may have long-term impacts on their life-time earnings and may make it harder to find other suitable employment.

‘Based on overseas evidence, we cannot assume that this situation will right itself,’ she says.

‘As a result we are engaged in a range of practical initiatives to improve employment opportunities for women, including making the most of women’s skills and employment, and learning from others’ recovery in disaster-struck areas.’

‘We know that following the 2001 9/11 disaster in New York, firms who already operated flexible workplace policies were up and running faster. These firms alreadyhad in place, for example, systems to enable employees to work off-site and active programmes to keep employees involved with work when on periods of extended leave, such as parental leave.’

‘We are working with partners in Christchurch and in central government to help women stay engaged with the workforce’.

‘Positive initiatives are already taking place. On 31 August 2011 the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata, launched the Christchurch Women in Trades Network. The Network had its second meeting on 3 November and is now planning its third meeting. The Network, whose members are tradeswomen, has already discussed a number of ideas that would encourage and assist women into trades,’ she said.

Work and Income have connected over 2000 people into employment since September 2010, many who have lost jobs as a direct result of the earthquakes. Staff are working with women to identify their transferable skills and match them to available jobs. As a result many women are considering industries they may not have before. Many industries are growing as a result of the rebuild and need staff across a range of roles. Work and Income are working with them to source these opportunities for job seekers.

WEConnect supports women businesses

Betty Wood, the Lead Strategist for WEConnect visited New Zealand recently to meet with the Minister of Women’s Affairs and key businesswomen, on the role of WEConnect in supporting and growing businesses owned by women.

WEConnect Canada was launched in March 2009 as an independent non-profit membership organisation. It is modelled on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and is affiliated to WEConnect International. Other international affiliates include Europe, India, China and Peru.

WEConnect membership is linked to Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certification. The certification process establishes that member organisations are majority owned by women. The certification is required by Fortune 500 companies when women owned businesses want to enter Fortune 500 supply chains through their supplier diversity programme. The certification process gives women-owned businesses in Canada access to key USA markets.

Membership is based on three criteria which stipulate that the member business must be: 51 percent owned, controlled or managed by women, proactively growing, and selling business to business.

WEConnect charges an annual membership fee of around NZ$1,000 to individual women business members. The annual corporate membership fee is approximately NZ$12,000.

WEConnect benefits corporate members by providing them with access to diverse women business-led suppliers, which more closely reflects the demographics of the market place. It benefits women business members, by providing access to mentoring and coaching programmes, access to training aimed at helping businesses grow and support in tendering for government and public sector procurement.

Following initial set-up funding received from several Canadian Government agencies and 12 corporate founding members, WEConnect Canada is now funded through annual membership fees and some ongoing government funding from two Government agencies: Status of Women Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The demand from New Zealand women businesses for an accreditation model like WEConnnect is currently unknown and, given access to other support, it may be low.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise aims to improve the international competitiveness and sustained profitability of New Zealand business by providing access to people, knowledge and opportunities. In addition to wider trade policies, regional business partnerships enable exporters (start-up and established) to access support for their businesses.

New website for female architecture graduates

A new website hopes to answer the question about what happens to New Zealand’s women architects after they graduate.

A new website, Architecture + Women (www.architecturewomen.org.nz), seeks to capture the who, when, where and how of New Zealand’s women architecture graduates.

It has been founded by University of Auckland architecture alumna Dr Sarah Treadwell, who heads the School of Architecture and Planning; along with Lynda Simmons, a registered architect earning her Masters of Architecture at the University; registered architect Megan Rule and Julie Wilson, a practising graduate of architecture.

The information gathered will become part of an Architecture + Women exhibition in 2013, a show that will mark the 80th anniversary of New Zealand’s first female architecture graduate, as well as 120 years of the suffrage movement.

The website will be a database for female architecture graduates in New Zealand and abroad, increasing opportunities for professional networking, mentoring and publication opportunities.

The website has been developed with support from The University of Auckland, the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) and the Block Foundation. While the immediate goal is to build a database from which to create the Architecture + Women exhibition (which will be mounted during Auckland Architecture Week 2013), the longer-term objective is to create opportunities to promote employment, publication and research.

Dr Sarah Treadwell says there is a general sense of “invisibility” around female architecture graduates – despite their prominence in tertiary education.

‘The University’s School of Architecture and Planning has more than 50 percent representation by female students, who generally do very well, yet there are very few women working in principal roles in architecture firms in New Zealand,’ says Head of School, Dr Sarah Treadwell. ´The research that we are undertaking at this time, in conjunction with a similar project in Australia, has the potential to identify new patterns of architectural practice for both men and women in the future.’

Visit www.architecturewomen.org.nz

Gender equality makes smart economics

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs recently hosted Andrew D. Mason (Andy), the World Bank’s senior lead economist in the East Asia and Pacific Region and its regional gender co-ordinator.

Andy was in New Zealand to present the findings of the 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development and to gain a first-hand experience of gender policies in New Zealand.

Andy says his role is to ‘get the word out that gender equality is a core development objective for countries’.

‘It is not only the right thing to do, but it makes economic sense as well’, he said.

The 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development, released in September 2011, found that women’s lives around the world have improved dramatically, but gaps remain in many areas.

Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, including new field research covering over 4,000 men and women in 19 developing countries, the report focuses on the economics of gender equality.

It notes that misallocation of women’s skills and labour due to market or social discrimination can result in large economic losses.

The report found that:

• Greater gender equality can increase productivity, improve outcomes for children, make institutions more representative, and improve development prospects for all.
• Greater control over household resources and equal access to credit and assets for women has a positive impact on children. In Ghana, the share of assets and share of land owned by women are positively associated with higher family food budgets.
• Giving women equal opportunities to be socially and politically active positively influences laws, policies, and makes institutions more representative of a range of voices. In India, empowering women at the local level led to an increase in the provision of public goods such as water and sanitation as well as increased reporting and prosecutions of crimes against women.

Andy is leading a team which is specifically looking at gender equality and development within the East Asia and Pacific region. His visit to New Zealand was organised jointly by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. For more information visit http://ecpon.worldbank.org/wdr/.

International studies rate New Zealand’s progress

Overall New Zealand continues to rate well in international gender reports and recent reports identify areas where work is needed to improve specific measures.

Human Development Index

New Zealand has been ranked fifth out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index which is part of the Human Development Report 2011, released in November 2011 by the United Nations Development Programme. The Report has four indices measuring the level of human development across countries.

"New Zealand continues to rate well in intern"

The Human Development Index measures achievements in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.

The Gender Inequality Index measures disadvantage in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and labour market. In this index, New Zealand ranked thirty-second out of the 145 countries.

Ministry of Women’s Affairs Director, Policy, Deb Moran, said that with respect to this index, New Zealand’s comparatively higher adolescent fertility may have contributed to its relatively low ranking, when compared to other similar nations such as Australia, Ireland and Canada.

Global Gender Gap

New Zealand’s has slipped one place to sixth position in the world in the 2011 Global Gender Gap report. The Global Gender Gap Index, introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006, is a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. New Zealand ranked highest for the Asia Pacific region.

The Nordic countries continue to lead progress. Iceland has claimed the first position for the third year in a row, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden. Ireland has replaced New Zealand in fifth place, a position New Zealand held since 2007.

The report states that while both countries show improvement in their scores, Ireland has posted relatively large gains. Both countries showed improvements in scores relative to their own performance in 2010. Ireland achieved relatively larger gains in health and survival and political empowerment categories and lost some ground in economic participation. New Zealand made small improvements in economic participation and political empowerment but its other two indicators (educational attainment and health and survival) remained the same.

New Zealand’s rankings in the four categories are: first in educational attainment, eighth in political empowerment, eleventh in economic participation and opportunity, and ninety-second in health and survival (from ninety-first in 2010). This is due to New Zealand scoring slightly lower in one indicator, healthy life expectancy, which measures the difference between women’s and men’s life expectancy.

New Zealander makes a world of difference

New Zealander Amanda Ellis has been awarded The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) World of Difference Lifetime Award at a function in Washington in October.
 
The annual award is given to women throughout the world whose actions, efforts and inspiration truly do make a ‘World of Difference’ in supporting the advancement of women.

Whether it is a small village project in a developing country that has ripple effects throughout the community, or an event or initiative on a global scale, the TIAW World of Difference Award recognises the power within every individual to change the world we live in for the betterment of women.

Amanda is Deputy Secretary for the International Development Group, managing New Zealand’s international aid and development program and advising the Government on international development issues.

Amanda is an economist specialising in international trade and development economics. Before returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in July 2010, she was Lead Specialist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group of the World Bank.

Amanda also managed the World Bank’s Global Private Sector Leaders CEO Forum. Ms Ellis is the author of two books, ‘Women’s Business, Women’s Wealth: create the life you want at work and in business’ (2002) and ‘Woman 2 Woman: NZ women share their experiences of career and business’ (2004). She is a founding member of the Global Banking Alliance for Women and a board member of New Zealand Global Women.

An overview of women in New Zealand

The Ministry has recently compiled some facts on the status of women in New Zealand in 2011. Here is an overview of the key points.

Much has changed for women over the last few decades. New Zealand women are now more likely than men to participate in and complete higher education, and the majority of women are engaged in the paid economy. Women are also represented at the highest levels of business and government.

Alongside women’s changing economic and social status there have been marked changes in family structure including a rise in de-facto relationships, female headed single parent households and marital dissolution. Women are now less likely to marry and tend to marry at a later age. They are also having fewer children and delaying childbearing until later ages.

New Zealand women are increasingly ethnically diverse

As at 2006, an estimated 15 percent of women were Māori, seven percent were Pacific, ten percent were Asian and 77 percent were European or ‘Other’ ethnicities. Population projections suggest that New Zealand’s Māori, Asian and Pacific populations will continue to grow at a greater rate than the European population.

in 2006 An estimated 16% of women had a disability This compares with 17 percent of men.

At September 2011, the median age for females was 37.9 years, compared with 35.6 years for males

This difference is largely attributable to women’s higher life expectancy. Due to higher fertility and lower life expectancies, the Māori and Pacific population is considerably younger. For example, at June 2011 the median age for Māori females was 24.4 years, compared with 21.9 years for Māori males.

At least a 1/4 to a 1/3 of New Zealand women will experience pa rtner violence or sexual violence in their lifetimes Young and Māori women are most at risk of violent victimisation.

Violence against women has a profound effect upon their wellbeing, and is associated with a significantly increased risk of mental, reproductive and physical health problems, self-inflicted harm and suicide.

The New Zealand population is aging The proportion of New Zealand women aged 65 years and over is projected to increase from a 2009 baseline of 13.7 percent to 26.6 percent by 2061.

Most male work is paid (63 percent) and most female work is unpaid (65 percent)

Most of women’s productive time is spent doing unpaid caring work, both within their own and other’s households, and in the voluntary sector.

Women’s greater responsibility for unpaid work is reflected in their more fragmented employment patterns. More than one in three women work part time, and women aged 30 to 34 have a labour force participation rate that is low by international standards. Many of the part-time roles held by women are lower skilled and lower paid, whilst extended breaks from the labour force can impact upon women’s skills accumulation and employment opportunities.

Women earn less than men Given that women have lower median hourly earnings, are more likely to work part time and are more likely to take time out of the workforce, their lifetime earnings are lower than men’s. As the New Zealand Income Survey shows, women remain concentrated at the lower end of the income distribution.

Women live longer than men

In the period 2008–2010, life expectancy at birth was 82.7 years for females, compared with 78.8 years for males, although this gap has been closing since the mid-1980s. There are also marked ethnic differences in life expectancy. In the period 2005–2007 female life expectancy at birth was 83 years for non-Māori, and 75.1 years for Māori.

This information has been sourced from Statistics New Zealand, the OCED Employment Outlook 2011 and the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (2006 and 2009 reports).

In brief

Report reveals science’s gender gap

A new report has revealed the extent of the gender gap in the New Zealand science system. The Association for Women in the Sciences, in association with Dr Belinda Bray of The University of Auckland, has produced a new booklet Women in Science: A 2011 Snapshot (available at www.awis.org.nz).

The key findings are:

• When science is compulsory at school, female students do well across the board but routinely choose the biological sciences above physics or chemistry when given the option.
• Women with a Bachelor of Science or PhD earn $30,000 less on average than men with the same qualification level, due to an over-representation in lower paid jobs.
• Women are still under-represented at higher levels of university employment (Professor/Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer) although they are gaining ground at lower levels.
• Women are also under-represented at the level of decisionmaking and funding allocation.
• Women scientists are not gaining the same degree of recognition as males with few awarded the top prizes in New Zealand science.

Congratulations to Professor Christine Winterbourn

As a postscript to the Women in Science report, New Zealand’s top science and technology honour, the Rutherford Medal, has been awarded to a woman for the first time. Professor Christine Winterbourn was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand medal at the Research Honours celebration event in Wellington recently.

Dr Garth Carnaby, president of the Royal Society, said Christine was one of the first scientists to demonstrate that human cells produce free radicals as part of their normal function and she went on to characterise some of the chemical reactions of free radicals that occur in diseases such as cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease and arthritis.

Christine is the first woman to receive the top award since it was established 20 years ago in 1991. Along with the medal, she also receives a $100,000 award.

Christine has also been a firm advocate for science in New Zealand, acting as a role model and mentor to young students and scientists trying to forge careers in New Zealand.

Male leaders champion best practice

New from the Australian Male Champions of Change group is a best-practice guide of strategies to assist large organisations to increase the number of women in leadership roles. The guide, entitled ‘Our experiences in elevating the representation of women in leadership: A letter from business leaders’, details three phases of the gender diversity journey. It includes case studies illustrating the phases, and thought-provoking questions. To access the report visit: www.humanrights.gov.au/sex_discrimination/publication/mcc/index.html

Why do women leave work?

New Australian research by Isabel Metz explores the belief that women tend to leave the workforce because of family responsibilities. Through interviews with 44 women in the banking sector, Isabel found that women leave work for a host of reasons, some work-related, some related to their families. The work-related factors include long work hours, chauvinistic work environments and outright discrimination. Only a very small proportion of women are leaving the workforce to focus on family responsibilities and most are being ‘squeezed out’ of their organisations.

An article describing the research, ‘Women leave work because of family responsibilities: Fact or fiction?’ was published in the September 2011 issue of Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources.

Entries open for Enterprising Rural Women Award

Entries are now open for the Enterprising Rural Women Award 2012, an award organised by Rural Women New Zealand.

The 2012 Award Categories are: the Telecom North Island business award, the Access Homehealth South Island business award and the new FlyBuys Online Business Award, for women who are largely carrying out their business via the internet.

A Supreme winner will be chosen from the three category winners, and announced on 21 May 2012 at the Rural Women New Zealand National Conference, to be held in Hawera, Taranaki.

Entries for the Enterprising Rural Women Award close Friday 16 March 2012.