2 June 2021
Roger Calkin
[FYI request #15226 email]
Dear Roger,
Request for information
IR-01-21- 12874
Thank you for your request dated 20 April 2021 seeking information under Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA), relating to policy surrounding the charge of Male Assaults
Female in relation to transgender people.
You asked:
1. If a Transgender person who was born male, but now identifies as female assaults a
female would policy see them charged with Male Assaults Female, or Common Assault?
2. If a Transgender person who was born female but now identifies as male assaults a
female would policy see them charged with Male Assaults Female, or Common Assault?
3. If a Transgender person who was born female but now identifies as male but now
identifies as male assaults a Transgender person who was born male but now identifies
as female would policy see them charged with Male Assaults Female, or Common
Assault?
4. If a male assaults a Transgender person who was born male but now identifies as female
would policy see them charged with Male Assaults Female, or Common Assault?
5. Is it policy of NZ police to first request the identifying gender of all parties when deciding
on the Male Assaults Female, or Common Assault?
6. How many Transgender people identifying as a gender other than their birth gender
have been charged with Male Assaults Female in the last year?
7. How many Transgender people identifying as a gender other than their birth gender
have been charged with Common Assault in the last year where the victim has been
female?
In response to your first five questions, Police has no policy that provides specific
guidance to staff in the scenarios that you have identified, in terms of how a person’s
identifying gender impacts on charging decisions about assault. Police’s Family Harm
Policy makes inclusive reference to transgender individuals with respect to how we
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington SX11149
Telephone: (04) 474 9499. www.police.govt.nz
define intimate partner violence, but there is no material in this policy about the
charging of transgender persons. As such, this part of your request has been refused
pursuant to s18(e) of the OIA, as the document alleged to contain the information
requested does not exist.
In response to your last two questions, the information about a person in Police’s core
dataset, the National Intelligence Application, records what Police staff have recorded as
the person’s current gender. Information is not available as to any previous identifying
gender or to indicate if the gender recorded is that person’s birth gender. As such, Police
is unable to extract the relevant data required to answer these two questions. This part
of your request has therefore been refused pursuant to s18(g) of the OIA, as the
information requested is not held by Police, and I am not aware of it being held by any
other agency.
If you are not satisfied with my response to your request, you have the right under
s28(3) of the OIA, to ask the Office of the Ombudsman to seek an investigation and
review of my decision.
Yours sincerely,
Kathryn Wilson
Manager: Strategy & Capability
National Criminal Investigations Group
