New Zealand - October 2024

New Zealand lawmakers unanimously passed a law on 10 October exempting victims of domestic violence from a mandatory two-year period of separation before they can divorce. Proponents of the law described it as removing a legal requirement that victims of domestic abuse remained “tethered” to their abusers until divorce proceedings could be finalized. The new law is intended to help deal with what lawmakers consider one of New Zealand’s most deeply rooted social problems. According to police, annual domestic violence investigations increased by 49 per cent between 2017 and 2023.

Sources: Associated Press, New Zealand Herald