One in six young people face sexual harm - report

New data has revealed the scale of harm faced by young people in New Zealand.

Data from the Ministry of Social Development's Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey covers off experiences on bullying, physical and sexual harm, and victimisation from 2025.

The numbers showed about one in six young people have experienced sexual harm in their life, while just over one in ten have been exposed to violence by an adult in their home.

The report found the most common form of sexual harm was being touched in a sexual way or made to do sexual things the victims did not want to, followed by harmful sexting experiences.

It also highlighted one in four young people experienced bullying in the last year, with nearly one in three skipping school at least once as a result.

The common bullying faced by young people was teasing or verbal abuse, as well as social exclusion among victims, the report found

"Although female and male young people experienced similar rates of bullying (27 percent and 25 percent respectively), female young people were more likely to experience exclusion (62 percent) and online bullying, while male young people were more likely to experience physical bullying," it said.

More than half of bullied youths experienced bullying online in the last year, the report said.

High digital engagement among young people who had been harmed were exposed to unsafe online environments, and attempts to cope with or escape problems, it said.

Another harm highlighted by the report looked at yelling and swearing. Half of young people were yelled or sworn at by an adult in their home in the last year, the report found.

"A third of young people (33 percent) witnessed adults yelling at one another, and 29% witnessed adults yelling at another child."

The Ministry of Justice's Recbecca Parish described the findings as challenging.

"It's difficult to think of harm occurring to young people," she said.

"These findings will be shared with agencies and groups who are working to improve the well-being of young people in New Zealand and will be used to inform current and future decision making."

Where to get help:

• NZ Police.
• Victim Support 0800 842 846.
• Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00.
• Rape Prevention Education.
• Empowerment Trust.
• HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
• Safe to talk: 0800 044 334.
• Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
• Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.

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