Gender inequality in New Zealand

Gender equality is the notion that each gender should receive equal treatment in all aspects of life, and that one should not be discriminated based on their sex. Gender equality is a human right, which is recognised under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.^[1]

Gender equality is increasingly framed as being central to the realisation of both modernisation and economic efficiency, and its achievement presented as a key to good governance.^[2] As a result, the New Zealand government has implemented institutional mechanisms to promote the advancement of gender equality. In 2016, New Zealand was ranked 9th out of a total of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report which ranks countries in terms of gender equality in the population under four heads: economic participation, health, education and political empowerment.