Rights in Aotearoa Aotearoa’s domestic legal framework creates duties to protect all citizens, and therefore disabled people, from violence and abuse. Applicable laws are the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993.33 The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act outlines rights pertaining to the life and security of the person, including the right to not be deprived of life.34 It enshrines the right to be free from discrimination,35 and aligns that with prohibited grounds of discrimination defined in the Human Rights Act which includes disability.36 As noted previously, violence based on personal characteristics such as disability or others covered in the Human Rights Act and which impinge on the enjoyment of other rights, is a form of discrimination. The long-term neglect to understand and remedy the situation could constitute discrimination and would therefore, require an immediate response from government. Acting now for a violence and abuse free future 21