Nearly half of Kiwis think equality has already been achieved.
And 1 in 3 young men think equality has gone too far.
These results come from the National Council of Women of New Zealand's 2025 Gender Attitude Survey.
Council President Dr Suzanne Manning says the views are outdated and entrenched.
"What men see is being comfortable with the status quo, and all these rules that are put in could take their privileges away from them."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have a new report that shed some light on
what we all think about gender equality. Nearly half of
us think that equality has already been achieved. Seventeen percent
of New Zealanders think that if someone is raped when
they're drunk, they're at least partly responsible for it, and
a rising number think that it's understandable for a man
to hit out when his partner tries to leave. President
of the National Council of Women, doctor Suzanne Manning, is
(00:21):
behind the study. High Suzann, Hello, So one in three
young men think equality has gone too far, and forty
percent of us no longer see sexism as a significant issue.
What a reckon's going on here?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm reckoning that people have become complacent. We have had
some wins in the past few years, and there are
a lot of people who have gone, Yep, that's enough,
we've done it. We're there. So that's the general thing
that where people think that we're already there. But there
(00:57):
is a group of people who have got these hard
ideas about it's going too far in the other direction. Now,
where's that coming from? It is it's hard to know
young men, for example, young people in general, they tend
to have some sixed ideas by the time they get
to twenty based on their upbringing. So here's my question,
(01:21):
what's their upbringing being like that they don't know that
they see gender equality as being a negative thing. Is
it all that it's going to.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Be that they see that there are jobs that are
ear marked only for women, and for example, we have
you know, we have this, we make a decision that
we've got to have fifty percent of public service boards
be women. And so I mean, obviously there will be
some men who are qualified who will lose out to
women who are less qualified in the drive in order
(01:52):
to get women on that board. Is that possibly what
they what they are referring to when they say it
goes too far? But basically the dei aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
People often think that often think that a rebalancing is
a bad thing. So from a gender equality point of view,
the reason that some of those things get put in
is because it's not fair at the moment, but it's
not fair for women generally. So what men see is
(02:26):
being comfortable with the status quo and all these rules
that are put in to take their privileges away from them.
So people don't like that sort of change. People don't
like things being taken away from them, even even if
they are advantages, but often that they don't realize their
unfair advantages. They just want to keep on what I mean,
(02:46):
we will do, don't we We will want to keep
what we've got, but the people without want a bit
of the biggest slice of the pie.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Then we've got the stuff about rape. Seventeen percent of
key we think that if someone is raped when they're drunk,
there at least partly responsible for it. Eleven percent of
people think that if someone doesn't physically fight back, you
can't call it rape. How do you explain that?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
They are entrenched attitudes that are hangover from the past.
But they are entrench because there's a small core that
still believes that. And I'm not sure how are we
going to shift that, Because while there's a group that
condone that sort of behavior, we are not going to
turn around our stats. We're not going to decrease the
(03:29):
appalling amount of sexual violence that we have.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And then a rising number of people reckon it's understandable
for a man to hit out when his partner tries
to leave. Now I was confused by what you mean
by hit out.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, a lot of people are, and we are interested
in digging deeper into how people are answering that question.
The original intention was basically hit out in a physical
violence sense, all right, But we acknowledge that some people
would look at that as hit out in a verbal
or other sense. But having said that, we actually think
(04:05):
that that's just as bad. It's still abuse, it's still violence.
What people mean by understandable, I'm not sure. Again, we'd
like to look more of it, but the basic gist
of that one is there are people condoning violence. However
you look at it, people are condoning violence.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Well, well, I mean, Susan, can I give you an
alternative perspective? Because I looked at it and I just
read it as a man is you know, it is
understandable a man's going to pack a giant tantrum when
his partner tries to leave it. And I would have
thought that that's just reality, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Hit out, I think is actually a phrase that has
aimed at someone. So anyone can sit there and throw
wobbly yeah, But when you're actually hitting out at somebody,
that person becomes a target. That becomes abuse.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, Suzan, thank you that's really interesting. I appreciate you
us through all of that, Doctor Suzanne Manning, who is
the President of the National Council of Women. For more
from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks.
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
We have a new report that shed some light on
what we all think about gender equality. Nearly half of
us think that equality has already been achieved. Seventeen percent
of New Zealanders think that if someone is raped when
they're drunk, they're at least partly responsible for it, and
a rising number think that it's understandable for a man
to hit out when his partner tries to leave. President
of the National Council of Women, doctor Suzanne Manning, is
(00:21):
behind the study. High Suzann, Hello, So one in three
young men think equality has gone too far, and forty
percent of us no longer see sexism as a significant issue.
What a reckon's going on here?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm reckoning that people have become complacent. We have had
some wins in the past few years, and there are
a lot of people who have gone, Yep, that's enough,
we've done it. We're there. So that's the general thing
that where people think that we're already there. But there
(00:57):
is a group of people who have got these hard
ideas about it's going too far in the other direction. Now,
where's that coming from? It is it's hard to know
young men, for example, young people in general, they tend
to have some sixed ideas by the time they get
to twenty based on their upbringing. So here's my question,
(01:21):
what's their upbringing being like that they don't know that
they see gender equality as being a negative thing. Is
it all that it's going to.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Be that they see that there are jobs that are
ear marked only for women, and for example, we have
you know, we have this, we make a decision that
we've got to have fifty percent of public service boards
be women. And so I mean, obviously there will be
some men who are qualified who will lose out to
women who are less qualified in the drive in order
(01:52):
to get women on that board. Is that possibly what
they what they are referring to when they say it
goes too far? But basically the dei aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
People often think that often think that a rebalancing is
a bad thing. So from a gender equality point of view,
the reason that some of those things get put in
is because it's not fair at the moment, but it's
not fair for women generally. So what men see is
(02:26):
being comfortable with the status quo and all these rules
that are put in to take their privileges away from them.
So people don't like that sort of change. People don't
like things being taken away from them, even even if
they are advantages, but often that they don't realize their
unfair advantages. They just want to keep on what I mean,
(02:46):
we will do, don't we We will want to keep
what we've got, but the people without want a bit
of the biggest slice of the pie.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Then we've got the stuff about rape. Seventeen percent of
key we think that if someone is raped when they're drunk,
there at least partly responsible for it. Eleven percent of
people think that if someone doesn't physically fight back, you
can't call it rape. How do you explain that?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
They are entrenched attitudes that are hangover from the past.
But they are entrench because there's a small core that
still believes that. And I'm not sure how are we
going to shift that, Because while there's a group that
condone that sort of behavior, we are not going to
turn around our stats. We're not going to decrease the
(03:29):
appalling amount of sexual violence that we have.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And then a rising number of people reckon it's understandable
for a man to hit out when his partner tries
to leave. Now I was confused by what you mean
by hit out.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, a lot of people are, and we are interested
in digging deeper into how people are answering that question.
The original intention was basically hit out in a physical
violence sense, all right, But we acknowledge that some people
would look at that as hit out in a verbal
or other sense. But having said that, we actually think
(04:05):
that that's just as bad. It's still abuse, it's still violence.
What people mean by understandable, I'm not sure. Again, we'd
like to look more of it, but the basic gist
of that one is there are people condoning violence. However
you look at it, people are condoning violence.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Well, well, I mean, Susan, can I give you an
alternative perspective? Because I looked at it and I just
read it as a man is you know, it is
understandable a man's going to pack a giant tantrum when
his partner tries to leave it. And I would have
thought that that's just reality, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Hit out, I think is actually a phrase that has
aimed at someone. So anyone can sit there and throw
wobbly yeah, But when you're actually hitting out at somebody,
that person becomes a target. That becomes abuse.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, Suzan, thank you that's really interesting. I appreciate you
us through all of that, Doctor Suzanne Manning, who is
the President of the National Council of Women. For more
from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks.
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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