New research by JustSpeak exploring the sentencing of wāhine Māori in the criminal courts of Aotearoa New Zealand.
3 November 2025
The report ‘He punga i mau ai: An anchor that holds the canoe’ takes a qualitative approach, prioritising historical and theoretical analysis and a review of the available literature, to explore the complex factors that impact the treatment and experiences of wāhine Māori in criminal courts across the motu. The report considers some possibilities for change in future sentencing methods, with a view to improving the current state of affairs for wāhine Māori who find themselves at the whim of the courts.
The report argues that the pervasiveness of institutional bias against Māori is clear, and pushes for a transformational approach to justice. The work is grounded in deep historical reflection and te ao Māori.
“Institutional bias in our criminal justice system is well known. Wāhine Māori are overrepresented at every stage of the criminal justice system, and underrepresented in research and support. Our legal system delivers harsh overall sentencing outcomes for wāhine Māori. We know this not only has an impact on the woman at the centre of the harm, but for her wider whānau. The impacts of institutional bias in justice systems are intergenerational.” says Laura Johnstone, report author and Lecturer, University of Canterbury.
“What we found was the need to look beyond incremental changes to our current justice system. We must shift our perspective to no longer seeing Māori forms of doing justice as ‘alternative’ processes, but the key to healing from ongoing harm that has been replicated for generations,” says Maia Keepa, report author and student, University of Canterbury.
“We must be aspirational to address the root causes of harm, paying particular attention to what this means for wāhine.”
This research was initiated in an attempt to bridge the information gap relating to wāhine Māori in our court systems. We often hear about the overrepresentation of wāhine Māori in the prison system, but less so about other aspects of the justice system which also have life
changing impacts.
More work to understand the experiences of wāhine Māori in the court systems is critical to transforming outcomes for those it impacts. In order to pursue evidence based solutions to the problems in front of us, we first need the evidence. In undertaking this research we uncovered significant gaps in the information available ranging from statistics to perspectives.
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