Presentation to the Women's Convention: Looking Back, Moving Forward, June 2005, Wellington.

This conference paper critically discusses gender neutrality in New Zealand with reference to domestic violence legislation and policy. The author links international events of wartime rape with domestic violence in New Zealand, arguing that underlying both of these are similar sexist assumptions about men, women, sexuality and violence. The author then argues that there is a need to recognise the gendered aspects of the most common sort of domestic violence (male against female) more explicitly, rather than consistently trying to remain gender-neutral as in "Te Rito: New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Strategy" (2002), for example. This presentation is the first half of a joint presentation with Alison Towns' "Violence Against Women: Beyond Silence" (2005).