Bradford Sue: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Bradford Sue: Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
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SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 On behalf of the Green Party I would like to welcome the introduction of the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) to the House tonight. It is almost always the case on matters of a sexual nature that the law in this area has failed abysmally to keep up with changes in society since 1961 when the current Crimes Act became law. For any of us who are old enough to have any memory at all of 1961 it does not take long to realise that New Zealand and indeed global society has been through massive changes in the intervening 40-plus years and I congratulate the Government on having the courage to face up to the difficult issues involved in dragging our archaic laws around sexual crime into the 21st century. 
This is not to say I believe that the bill is necessarily perfect. It deals with matters that are by their very nature sensitive and complex and that touch most of us at levels beyond our comfort zones. I hope all the groups and individuals who have experience and knowledge and who care passionately about the issues raised in this bill will make the most of the opportunity to present submissions and that I might have a chance to hear them during the select committee process. I realise that a number of such groups were consulted in the preparation of the bill but it will still be absolutely critical for those who will be considering it to have the benefit of detailed comment. For example even the Government’s explanatory note to the bill remarks on the difficulty of deciding whether rape as a male-on-female offence should be retained as a separate category of sexual violation. 
It comments: “Public opinion will be sought on this issue.” This is unusually frank in my experience of such explanatory notes and I think it marks a welcome recognition of the delicacy and depth of what is being confronted here. The nature significance and semantics of rape are loaded issues that have been debated for at least a generation of feminists and others and the reluctance of the drafters of this law to rush in too quickly where angels fear to tread is instructive and to be commended. 
To turn to some of the major aspects of this bill as the Green Party spokesperson on disability issues I would like first to comment on that part of it that deals with section 138 of the Crimes Act. It is unsavoury and anomalous that until now it has been an offence for men to have or attempt to have sex with what is classified as a severely subnormal woman or girl. This has totally denied any concept that women with severe intellectual or other impairments might actually have the possibility of enjoying a legal sex life of their own—a fairly fundamental abrogation of one of the most basic of human rights. In recent years groups like IHC have done a tremendous amount of good work in the whole area of sex sexuality and intellectual disability and it is great to see such work finally culminating not only in change within their own organisation but also in legislative change that will mean that everyone has a right finally to sexual autonomy. At the same time the bill does not ignore the reality that people with significant physical mental or intellectual impairments do remain particularly vulnerable and there are clauses that deal with this. 
Secondly the Green Party welcomes the inclusion of the substance of Dianne Yates’ member’s bill on drug rape into this Government legislation. Drug rape is actually nothing new but it is way past time it was recognised by law. This bill makes it clear that it is an offence to have non-consenting sexual connection with someone who is asleep or unconscious or who is so affected by alcohol or other drugs that he or she no longer has the ability to either consent to or refuse sex. 
I believe that women and some men have actually suffered from this form of rape for uncountable generations whether through the administration of alcohol or drugs or some combination of those or for other reasons. Many women and men alive now and possibly even some here in this Parliament have been subject to this kind of rape and have been left with a legacy of guilt confusion and self-blame for something that was actually a crime committed against them. I look forward to the day our Parliament passes a law that clearly states that non-consenting and/or unconscious sex is rape and while for many it will be too late to help them inside the court or legal system I hope we can at least look forward to a future in which we will live in a society that no longer is complicit in this particular crime. 
Thirdly we welcome the fact that finally the bill deals with gender and sexuality with neutrality. It is high time we were dragged out of the Dark Ages when it was seen that only men could commit these kinds of sexual offences and people pretended and acted as if women could not. We also welcome the additional measures that bring us into compliance with the optional protocol of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography. I particularly welcome in this regard the fact that these offences will apply to actions taken outside New Zealand which is in line with the great work that ECPAT New Zealand has been doing in recent years. In conclusion I simply reiterate our party’s support for the bill and we look forward to working with other parties in this House on it and in the near future bringing forward a progressive and enlightened piece of legislation.