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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against the person - Female genital mutilation

204B: Further offences relating to female genital mutilation

You could also call this:

“This law makes it illegal to help someone leave New Zealand to have female genital mutilation done, or to encourage someone to have it done overseas.”

You can get in trouble if you try to make a child under 17 leave New Zealand to have female genital mutilation done. This applies if the child is a New Zealand citizen or usually lives in New Zealand. You could go to jail for up to 7 years if you cause the child to leave New Zealand or make plans for the child to leave for this reason.

If you help, encourage, or tell someone to do female genital mutilation outside of New Zealand on a New Zealand citizen or someone who usually lives in New Zealand, you could also go to jail for up to 7 years. This is true even if the act doesn’t actually happen.

You could also go to jail for up to 7 years if you encourage or convince a New Zealand citizen or someone who usually lives in New Zealand to have female genital mutilation done to them outside of New Zealand, to agree to have it done, or to let someone do it to them. This is true even if it doesn’t actually happen.

It doesn’t matter if the person says it’s okay to do female genital mutilation to them. You can still get in trouble even if you thought they said it was okay.

If you’re a woman and someone does these things to you, you won’t get in trouble for being part of the crime.

All of these things are against the law because they are related to section 204A, which talks about female genital mutilation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM329750.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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204A: Female genital mutilation, or

“This law makes it illegal to harm a girl's or woman's private parts, except for certain medical reasons.”

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205: Bigamy defined, or

“Bigamy means marrying or entering a civil union with someone else while already married or in a civil union.”

Part 8 Crimes against the person
Female genital mutilation

204BFurther offences relating to female genital mutilation

  1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, with intent that there be done, outside New Zealand, to or in relation to any child under the age of 17 years (being a child who is a New Zealand citizen or is ordinarily resident in New Zealand), any act which, if done in New Zealand, would be an offence against section 204A,—

  2. causes that child to be sent or taken out of New Zealand; or
    1. makes any arrangements for the purposes of causing that child to be sent or taken out of New Zealand.

      1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, in New Zealand, aids, incites, counsels, or procures the doing, outside New Zealand, in relation to any person who is a New Zealand citizen or is ordinarily resident in New Zealand, of any act which, if done in New Zealand, would be an offence against section 204A, whether or not the act is in fact done.

      2. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, in New Zealand, incites, counsels, procures, or induces any person who is a New Zealand citizen or is ordinarily resident in New Zealand—

      3. to submit, outside New Zealand, to any act which, if done in New Zealand, would be an offence against section 204A; or
        1. to acquiesce in the doing, outside New Zealand, on that person, of any such act; or
          1. to permit any such act to be done, outside New Zealand, on that person,—
              1. whether or not, in any case, the act is in fact done.

            1. It is no defence to a charge under subsection (2) or subsection (3) that the person on whom the act was done consented to that act, or that the person charged believed that such consent had been given.

            2. No person shall be charged as a party to an offence committed in relation to her against subsection (2) or subsection (3).

            Notes
            • Section 204B: inserted, on , by section 3 of the Crimes Amendment Act 1995 (1995 No 49).