u/iainmf

For about the last year I’ve been reviewing New Zealand’s laws for discrimination against men. I did a search of the New Zealand legislation website for gendered terms like man, woman, male, female, wife, husband etc. I then restricted my review to laws made after 1960. There were about 900 laws with gendered terms, many of them were not relevant because there was no discrimination. They would something like “this applies to the husband, or wife,”.

The main things I found were:

There are still laws that discriminate against men in New Zealand.
New Zealand men were not protected from sexual assault by woman at all until 1985, and boys were not protected from women sexually abusing them until 2005. Rape is still defined as male perpetrator female victim, but all other sexual assault laws are now gender neutral.
Social welfare law gave women extras benefits and protections. In 1984, a New Zealand report to the UN said: "There are some areas where women have more rights than men in the present social security legislation". The discriminatory elements were slowly removed and since 2013 social security laws are gender-neutral.
Men had additional duties that women did not have. Conscription was the obvious one, but men were obligated to serve on Juries, assist Police officers in certain situations, and help during outbreaks of animal diseases. These kinds of laws have been made gender-neutral now.
Health and safety laws were stricter for women. Women were often prohibited from doing dangerous work, such as melting and casting lead, or cleaning machinery while it is moving, or working underground.

My 8,069 word article is available here:

https://github.com/IainMF/Mens_Rights_NZ/blob/main/Discrimination/discriminatory_laws.md

Books That Changed How I See Men

The Long Way Home: Why Odysseus is More Relevant Than Ever, Especially for Men and Boys.

‘Some guys have all the luck’. Bachelorette Parties, Lonely Boys, and De Facto Polygyny.

A life dedicated to understanding sex differences in cognition: Interview with Prof David Geary

The Evolution of Intimate Partner Violence Research

UK Government’s Call to Inform their Mental Health Strategy: Response from the Centre for Male Psychology

Beyond the Stereotype: Men, Emotional Intelligence and Social Expectation

Wimbledon 2026 Prize Money – Equal or Not?

Why fathers are important, especially for boys

Fathers care deeply, but our systems need to do better

Support for Fathers in Crisis During Family Breakdown and Family Court Processes

How Watching the 2026 World Cup Can Boost Your Mental Health – Especially With Dad This Father's Day.

After a billion years of sex differences, let people just be themselves. Review of the book ‘A Billion Years of Sex Differences’, by Steve Stewart-Williams

Different Men, Similar Problems: Needs for Cross-Cultural Comparative Approaches to Men’s Mental Health

Misinformation Among Experts in Psychology and Law (parental alienation)

The Myth of Male Expression: What Mainstream Psychology Gets Wrong About Men

Men’s mental health awareness: are we saying too much or too little?

Are men being discriminated against in the science workplace?

Laws discriminating against men in New Zealand. My historical review.

Coercive control legislation and the unintended consequences for healthy human relationships