Maori incarceration statistics go from awful to appalling when the rate of Mana Wāhine in New Zealand’s prisons is considered. Currently at 68%, it is the highest per capita incarceration rate of indigenous women in the world.

On reflection, I’m happy that I drove the 120 kilometre round trip in last Thursday’s filthy weather, to hear Speak Up For Women present their arguments against controversial proposals for sex self-identification (Sex Self ID) in the Births, Deaths, Marriages & Relationships Registration (BDMRR) Bill at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre.

Feminism is for all women, not just the privileged few (NZ election) Pt 3

NZ Labour, Te Pāti Māori, The Opportunities Party and the Women’s Rights Party all have some policies that will benefit women, especially those on low incomes. I would prefer any of them to form a government compared with National, ACT and NZ First. But, which one could I vote for?

Feminism is for all women, not just the privileged few (NZ election) Pt 2

The NZ Green Party have some very good policies for women and low-income people, particularly ones that will help a fair number of women struggling to pay essential bills.  However, they have significant silences, confusions, and/or contradictions in their policies and plans that will have a negative impact on females.

Feminism is for all women, not just the privileged few (NZ election) Pt 1

We are living through a time of turbulence, instability, and uncertainty. The decades long neoliberal dominance within Western-European patriarchal capitalism is under extreme pressure. The four biggest political parties in NZ have all been infected to a greater or lesser degree by neoliberalism, with National and the ACT parties being the most deeply contaminated.