National Council of Women Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch is working with Christchurch Girls High School (CGHS) around the idea of setting up an affiliated youth branch at the school. CGHS senior students have already been active in supporting issues that affect young women, in particular, around issues of sexual harassment. This call to action came about as a result of the 2021 survey that was carried out at the school by researcher, Dr Liz Gordon of Pūkeko Research Ltd (download the .pdf file of the report here). The responses to the survey showed that there was significant, ongoing sexual harassment being experienced by the majority of students of all ages at the school.

Senior students at CGHS have since set up a group called SASH (Students Against Sexual Harm) which operates both in their school and in some other Canterbury schools. 

Hutt Valley NCWNZ Beryl Anderson (left) with Suffrage Cup 2022 winner James Mason, and Ri Comer of Wellington Speaking Union (right). Image courtesy of Wellington Speaking Union.

The Wellington Speaking Union organises the Senior Premier A Grade, the top debating grade within the Intercollegiate debating competition. The winning school receives the John F Henning Cup, donated in 1961 by the then United States Ambassador to New Zealand. The best speaker in the Grand Final is presented with the Suffrage Cup, donated by the Hutt Valley branch of the National Council of Women.

It is of cause for concern that at present there are so few women nominations for the upcoming Council elections in Palmerston North. At present there are seven women and eight men on the Council, but three women are not standing again for election this year. To highlight this issue, the National Council of Women (NCW) Manawatu Branch held a meeting on 3 July in the Palmerston North City Council library to encourage participation in the elections. 

Event panel members (l-r) Aleisha Rutherford, Lorna Johnson, Leone Hapeta, and Janine Rankin. Image from Anne McCarthy.

On July 4 2022, Betty Ofe-Grant (NCWNZ Board member), Joy Williams (President of Auckland NCW branch) and a few other Auckland NCW members attended the "Keep Earth Green with Love" event hosted by the Taiwanese Women’s Association of New Zealand (TWANZ), a national member organisation of the NCWNZ. TWANZ President Huang Mamei led the event which included Director Chen Yongshao and Founding President Chen Ziying.

The Public Service Association (PSA) is the largest and oldest union in New Zealand currently with 80,000 members, over 70% of whom are female. At its founding in 1913, the PSA adopted the principle: “Women members shall enjoy the same rights and privileges as male members.” The union has a long history of supporting women’s rights and fighting for equal pay. The role of the union was invaluable for winning the fight for equal pay for health administrators this fall.

On Saturday, 7 May 2022, the Manukau Branch of National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) held an event at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa to celebrate the 125th anniversary of NCWNZ and also to acknowledge and celebrate the suffragists. A special area had been created there in 1993 to mark the centenary of women's suffrage by the NCW - a plaque marks the spot.

Newly Inducted Life Members: Colleen Edward (left) and Belinda Manus McGeehan (right), with NCWHC President Jenny Brittain (center). Image courtesy of Jenny Brittain.

In April 2022, at a lunch in Orewa, forty members and family friends of Colleen Edward and Belinda Manus McGeehan gathered to celebrate the ladies being honoured with Life Membership of the NCW Hibiscus Coast (NCWHC) branch.

Both Colleen and Belinda were presented with framed certificates acknowledging their service to NCWHBC that has ensured the branch has continued to advance the status of women and girls locally and nationally since its incorporation in the 1990’s.

For International Women's Day 2022, the Wellington Branch of NCWNZ designed a social media campaign on their Instagram video feed, highlighting thirteen wāhine within their community.

Members of the Christchurch NCWNZ are considering how to keep up awareness of the results of a sexual harassment survey undertaken at the request of the principal of Christchurch Girls' High School, Christine O'Neill.

Dr. Liz Gordon of Pūkeko Research Ltd. received an astounding 71% response rate from just over 1000 students aged 12 to 18. Most respondants were 16, and over 90% identified as female and nearly 75% as straight. Of the 430 respondants who indicated that they themselves had been sexually harassed, 381 reported they had (in total) experienced 2677 incidents of sexual harassment in the past year, averaging about seven incidents per student. Twenty respondents indicated that they had been raped.