Wāhine Māori overrepresented in the criminal justice system

Māori women are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, and this increases the further they progress through the system, a new factsheet from the Ministry of Justice shows. Analysis in the factsheet, Reducing the disproportionality of Māori in the criminal justice system: wāhine Māori, published today, focuses on how the justice system is experienced by Māori women. "While wāhine Māori make up 15 percent of women in Aotearoa New Zealand, they continue to be disproportionately represented at every stage of the criminal justice system,” says Rebecca Parish, the Ministry of Justice’s General Manager, Sector Insights. “Our research shows that wāhine Māori are disproportionately represented at every point of the  justice system, with a higher proportion (compared to the overall population of women) coming through courts, being remanded in custody and sentenced to imprisonment.” The analysis shows that the disproportionality increases as wāhine Māori move through the system. Wāhine Māori made up 44 percent of all women who were proceeded against by police, 49 percent of women entering court, 66 percent of women remanded in custody, and 71 percent of women s...