Hauraki Plains College students call to amend section 128 of the Crimes Act 1961 - Sign the Petition Here!

I love it when our young people are not afraid to front the big issues. Please see the petition started by a group of young people at Hauraki Plains College, Thames to address and amend the heteronormative categorisation of rape.

"We are wanting to redefine section 128 of the Crimes Act 1961 ..."

“Our group has selected the legal definition of rape in New Zealand. In Section 128 of the Crimes Act 1961, the law states that women can not rape, and more specifically, a man can not be raped by a woman. This section states, “Person A rapes person B if person A has sexual connection with person B, effected by the penetration of person B’s genitalia by person A’s penis…”

"We believe this definition may be derogatory and dehumanising. Our mission is to create change in the Crimes Act 1961 by redefining rape in New Zealand to be more inclusive. Currently, men and women who were 'raped' by a woman are told they were victims of "unlawful sexual connection"; however, this can be extremely demeaning and harm the victims' mental health if their traumatic experiences are undermined by by the law. At this point, Sweden, the United States, South Africa and Bhutan have used the term 'rape' as gender neutral in their legislation ..."

Petition link - Petition · Make the term 'rape' gender-neutral in New Zealand - New Zealand · Change.org