Crimes Amendment Bill No 2 - First Reading

Mr Speaker,

On behalf of the Green Party I should like to welcome the introduction of the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) to the House tonight. As is almost always the case on matters of a sexual nature, the law in this area has failed abysmally to keep up with changes in society since 1961 when the current Crimes Act became law.

For any of us who are old enough to have any memory at all of 1961, it doesn't take long to realise that New Zealand and indeed global society have been through massive changes in the intervening forty-plus years, and I congratulate the Government on having the courage to face up to the difficult issues involved in dragging our archaic laws around sexual crime into the 21st century.

This is not to say that I believe the Bill is necessarily perfect. It deals with matters that are by their very nature sensitive and complex, and which touch most of us at levels beyond our comfort zones. I hope all the groups and individuals who have experience and knowledge and who care passionately about the issues raised in this Bill will make the most of the opportunity to present submissions, and I hope I might have a chance to hear them during the Select Committee process. I realise that a number of such groups were consulted in the preparation of the Bill, but it will still be absolutely critical for those who will be considering it in detail to have the benefit of detailed comment.

For example, even the Government explanatory note to the Bill remarks on the difficulty of deciding whether rape as a male on female offence should be retained as a separate category of sexual violation, or not. It comments that, quote, 'public opinion will be sought on the issue'. This is unusually frank in my experience of such explanatory notes, and I think marks a welcome recognition of the delicacy and depth of what is being confronted here. The nature, significance and semantics of rape are loaded issues which have been debated for at least a generation, and the reluctance of law drafters here to rush in too quickly where angels fear to tread is instructive.

To turn to some of the major aspects of the Bill, as the Green Party's spokesperson on disability issues I'd like first to comment on that part of the Bill which deals with section 138 of the Crimes Act. It has been unsavoury and anomalous that until now it has been an offence for men to have or attempt to have sex with what is classified as a 'severely subnormal' woman or girl. This has totally denied any concept that women with severe intellectual impairments might actually have the possibility of enjoying a legal sex life of their own, a fairly fundamental abrogation of one of the most basic of human rights.

Groups like the IHC have done a tremendous amount of good work in the whole area of sex and intellectual disability in recent years, and it's great to see such work finally culminating not only in change within their own organisation but also in legislative change which will mean that everyone has a right to sexual autonomy.

At the same time, the Bill doesn't ignore the reality that people with significant physical, mental or intellectual impairments remain particularly vulnerable, and there are clauses to deal with this.

Secondly, the Green Party welcomes the inclusion of the substance of Diane Yates' Private Member's Bill on drug rape into this piece of Govt legislation. Drug rape is actually nothing new, but it is way past time it was recognised in law.

This Bill makes it clear that it is an offence to have non-consenting sexual connection with someone who is asleep or unconscious, or who is so affected by alcohol or other drugs that they no longer have the ability to either consent or refuse sex.

I believe that women have actually suffered from this form of rape for uncountable generations, whether through the administration of alcohol or drugs or some combination of them. Many women alive now and possibly even a number of us here in Parliament have been subject to this kind of rape, and have been left with a legacy of guilt, confusion and self blame for a crime which was committed against us.

I look forward to the day our Parliament passes a law which actually clearly states that non consenting and/or unconscious sex is rape and I hope that while for many it will be too late to help them inside the court or legal system, at least we can look to a future in which, I hope, we will live in a society which is no longer complicit in this particular crime.

Thirdly, I welcome the fact that finally we have a Bill which treats gender and sexuality with neutrality. It is high time that we were dragged out of the dark ages when it was seen than only men could commit these kind of sexual offences, and people pretended and acted as if women could not.

We also welcome the additional measures contained in this Bill which bring us into compliance with the optional protocol of UNCROC (the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) in relation to the sale of children, forced labour, child prostitution and child pornography. I am particularly pleased in this regard that these offences will apply not only within New Zealand but also to actions taken outside our national boundaries. The achievement of this is a tribute in part to the great work undertaken by ECPAT (End Child Prostitution Pornography and Trafficking) in recent years.

In conclusion, I reiterate the Green Party's support for this Bill, and I look forward to working with other parties in this House on it, and to bringing forward a progressive and enlightened piece of legislation in the near future.