Introduction 1. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission is New Zealand’s National Human Rights Institution. It is accredited with “A” status. One of the Commission’s functions is “to promote and monitor compliance by New Zealand with, and the reporting by New Zealand on, the implementation of international instruments on human rights ratified by New Zealand.”1 2. The Commission welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women for the purposes of New Zealand’s eighth periodic review under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 3. Based on the Commission’s consultations with women and its own research and work, we have identified five priority areas for women and girls in New Zealand: a. Gender based violence b. Employment c. Exploitation and trafficking d. Health e. Data collection and resource allocation 4. Our submission references relevant CEDAW articles and Sustainable Development Goals. A full summary of recommendations that the Committee may wish to make to the New Zealand Government is provided at Appendix A. 5. The Commission conducted eight public consultation meetings to help inform this report. Meeting minutes for these consultations can be found here: https://consultation.hrc.co.nz/womens-convention. Gender-based violence CEDAW Arts: 1 | 14 SDGs: 5 | 16 Violence and abuse 6. 1 Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. Domestic violence is so prevalent in New Zealand it is thought Section 5(2)(kc) of the Human Rights Act 1993 3