Ma¯ori more likely to be victims, says study

A new Ministry of Justice study shows Ma¯ori are hit by more crime than the rest of Aotearoa – and literally ‘‘just being Ma¯ori’’ increases the likelihood of being a victim.

Over any given 12-month period, 38 per cent of Ma¯ori are victims of crime – compared to 30 per cent of the general population, according to study Ma¯ori and Victimisation in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.

It is based on the New Zealand Crime and Victims surveys of 2018 and 2019, a sample of more than 16,000 people aged 15 and over. The sample includes 4641 Ma¯ori respondents across New Zealand.

Deputy secretary, sector group, Tim Hampton said the findings gave a different picture to the popular perception of Ma¯ori and crime.

‘‘We read a lot on the media, and see it on television, about Ma¯ori as being the perpetrators of crime. This survey’s really interesting because it looks at Ma¯ori as the victims of crime.’’

He said the fact Ma¯ori were 8 per cent more likely to be the victims of crime was a ‘‘statistically significant difference’’.

About a third of the difference could be explained by Ma¯ori being younger on average than the rest of the population, he said.

‘‘For a range of reasons, young people tend to be more likely the victims of crime.’’

Another third of the difference was due to deprivation experienced by Ma¯ori, such as difficulty finding quality housing, health inequities, and low income.

Just being Ma¯ori, he said, appeared to account for the rest.

‘‘The remaining difference though, the survey can’t point a finger to anything, except for the fact that they’re Ma¯ori, and again, that’s quite telling in and of itself ... part of the reason why we see

more victimisation appears to be that fact that just being Ma¯ori increases the likelihood of being a victim of crime.’’

Hampton said reducing the victimisation of Ma¯ori would require effort inside and beyond the justice sector.

The study showed victims were concentrated in small groups, who experienced crime ‘‘over and over again’’, he said.

About 5 per cent of the Ma¯ori population experienced about 81 per cent of interpersonal violent crime, and 56 per cent of burglaries.

‘‘It’s those who are most likely to experience psychological distress . . . and so it’s particularly important we provide additional support to help them over those crimes and then help prevent them being the victims of future crimes.’’

Ma¯ori living in Wellington and the South Island experienced higher rates of crime than those in the rest of the North Island. Hampton said further research was needed to understand why that was the case.

‘‘. . .just being Ma¯ori increases the likelihood of being a victim of crime.’’ Timhampton

How solid are the findings?

Hampton said the survey, from which the report was drawn, was ‘‘gold standard’’, and the only one giving a true sense of overall crime in Aotearoa.

The results showed 75 per cent of crime goes unreported, he said.

‘‘This survey is the only thing that shines a light on that . . . it picks up not only the crime that’s reported to police, but also the non-reported crime.’’