Only two years ago politicians from across the political spectrum were feigning bipartisan empathy when the final report of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care was tabled in Parliament, telling the victims they’d been heard. Now? They’ve made a subset of those victims a political smear. I’m talking about the Mongrel Mob. The Royal Commission…
Objective Suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people in Western Australia, though young people have limited options for support. The Luminos Project is a novel pilot service supporting young people experiencing suicidal thoughts. The Luminos Project was co-designed with young people, parents, carers and relevant stake-holders in the community, and is based…
Background Boys and men experience sexual abuse and assault (collectively termed “sexual trauma” throughout this thesis) but are rarely prioritised in research, public health messaging, or service provision. Despite evidence of low disclosure rates, long disclosure delays, and risk of suicidality among this population, further targeted research is needed to better understand boys’ and men’s…
Two professional psychology organisations have apologised to Māori for the harm caused by racism within the discipline of psychology. The joint apology from the New Zealand Psychological Society Rōpū Mātai Hinengaro o Aotearoa (NZPsS) and the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) is for the structural racism and monoculturalism inherent within the discipline of…
A recent publication ” When Men Cry”, contains some interesting information about violence against men. Global studies of domestic violence (DV) estimate that domestic violence affects 25% to 35% of men during their lifetime (Kigaya, 2021). Globally, at least one in six men has experienced some form of gender-based abuse in their lifetime (Nicholls &…
A psychologist with “significant involvement” with young men, referred by agencies including Oranga Tamariki and the Youth Court, is at the centre of a police investigation into alleged historical sexual offending, RNZ can reveal. It can now be reported that Ban Teik Tan, who is known as Ricki Tan, is before the courts facing 17…
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant public health concern linked to enduring psychological harm. A most serious consequence is elevated risk for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), which commonly emerge during adolescence. Substantial evidence connects sexual trauma with suicidality and NSSI in youth, but few studies examined interventions specifically targeting suicide-related…
The live streaming of child sexual abuse has been a significant problem internationally for more than a decade. It typically involves a child coerced to participate in sexual activities that are transmitted live and watched by others remotely, in return for payment. This research develops a conceptual framework that describes the live streaming of child…
Thousands of youths across the country are set to lose access to unemployment benefits, after a welfare bill passed into law under urgency on Friday night. From November 2026, the government will end Jobseeker payments to 18-19-year-olds whose parents earn more than $67,225. The limit was originally just over $65,000 when the policy was announced,…
Documenting how judges explain child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetration is an important task as sentencing decisions are in formed by their explanatory understandings. Despite this, the research into judges’ explanations for CSA perpetration is piecemeal and dated. Moreover, some of the extant scholarship does not differentiate judicial understandings of CSA specifically from sexual offending more…
MSD doesn’t say if it’s checking Lake Alice torture survivors’ benefit decisions after compensation botch up The agency wrongly denied accommodation supplement to a Lake Alice survivor, but the decision was overturned Former human rights commissioner criticises MSD’s stance. Officials are not saying if they’ve checked to make sure survivors of torture at the notorious…
Background Adolescents who engage in harmful sexual behaviours (AHSB) represent a heterogeneous group with complex developmental, psychosocial, and family characteristics. Existing national-level data of these characteristics remains limited, particularly outside North America and Europe. Objective This study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of individual, family, and victimisation characteristics of AHSB in Aotearoa, New Zealand…
