As demonstrated in Figure 6, from January 2023 to June 2024, women from New Zealand have consistently been the largest nationality group among women in immigration detention (between 24—44% of the total population of women within the period). While data on the ethnicity of women from New Zealand was not available to the Commission, Artus et al (2023) in their research, found that between January 2015 and May 2022, Mãori (43%) and Pacific Peoples (23%) made up the largest cohorts of the 2,684 New Zealand citizens (both men and women) that had been returned from Australia.59 These two groups were ‘substantially over-represented compared to their relative distribution within the wider NZ population’.60 Women from Vietnam have been the second largest cohort of women (apart from February, March, May and June 2024 when women from China were the second or equal second largest group). These three nationality groups have in large part remained the largest groups of women in immigration detention from 2022 (as seen in Figure 7). 18 Not just an afterthoughtThe experience of women in immigration detention