Jan Rivers

August 10, 2020 by Jan Rivers

Women go missing in Stats NZ proposed approach to sex and gender identity data

Stats New Zealand is holding a consultation which closes on 13 August on sex and gender identity and their collection in the census and across government. Surprisingly for such a large topic the proposed changes were not part of the 2019-2023 Statement of Strategic intent. The changes are proposals at this stage and may be […]

July 5, 2020 by Jan Rivers

Presentation on the NZ situation in relation to gender identity in Aotearoa NZ

for the Women’s Declaration of Sex-based rights. Jan Rivers 4-7-2020 Questions 1 Can you say something about the situation on gender identity in your country – is there self ID etc? Transgender ideology in medicine Transgender medicine guidelines issued in 2018, were published on the Health Ministry website in 2019 The Guidelines for Transgender Medicine […]

June 15, 2020 by Jan Rivers

Toppling the statues. What about the real blights on our landscape?

I worry that this toppling statues lark is completely arse about face. Toppling the statues of the last 300 years should surely be associated with some alteration in the power structures of oppression. We should be able to say – these ideas that these people represented are no longer amongst us. I think that assessment […]

March 8, 2020 by Jan Rivers

A cautious approach is needed for children and young people with gender confusion .

Gender identity in NZ This post is about what is happening in New Zealand related to children and young people who have confusion about whether they feel that “they are in the wrong body” or who announce themselves as “transgender”. There is information, some links to useful resources, and an outline of why the concept […]

September 2, 2019 by Jan Rivers

Solutions that are fair to everyone?

This opinion piece appeared last week in the 2019 Spring issue of Te Awa (the NZ Green Party’s newsletter) at this link posted to members of the Green Party. Two Green Party friends contacted me delighted that the logjam of urgent debate on this issue in NZ politics had been broken. On Sunday evening in […]

July 14, 2019 by Jan Rivers

TERF: a derogatory term to shut down debate

A sentence by sentence analysis of Rachel Stewart’s NZ Herald November 2018 article Months ago I heard that NZ campaigning journalist and environmentalist Rachel Stewart’s article about the abusive term TERF had received the most negative commentary by far since the instigation of the Media Council in New Zealand. (The Media Council was formed from […]

July 8, 2019 by Jan Rivers

Family violence: Working our way through a complex problem

Invitation: You are invited to this evening seminar on Friday 26 July at St Andrews on the Terrace in Wellington hosted by the St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society. “Family violence – working our way through a complex problem will look at ethical and other issues related to this challenging problem. […]

March 12, 2019 by Jan Rivers

Missing consultations: The Ministry of Justice and the Universal Periodic Review

Today I did a response to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). It’s the United Nations (UN) process where a government presents a snapshot of its human rights situation to the UN and other UN countries are provided with the opportunity to make suggestions on how progess could be made. Following this the final report with […]

March 11, 2019 by Jan Rivers

Invitation: Mindful People Build the Future

If you live in Wellington you are invited to this course which is taking place on four Sundays from March 24 – April 14 5.30-7.00 The course is part of the 2019 programme for the ST Andrews Trust for the Study of Religion and Society and it’s theme of stepping lightly with each other and […]

January 28, 2019 by Jan Rivers

Can our Rangatahi be hopeful again?

These were the principles and the proposed elements of a vision for the future as determined by the work of NZ’s young people during 1987 as part of the consultation and work for the Royal Commission on Social Policy’s engagement work. They were developed by National Youth Council’s consultation on Rangatahi: Youth Perspectives by three […]

November 28, 2018 by Jan Rivers

Revealing the Royal Commission on Social Policy

The Royal Commission on Social Policy (1986-88) was an initiative of the Fourth Labour government. The Royal Commission was in some ways an attempt to counter the measures the Government were taking to cut and privatise public services, remove worker protection and subsidies, and to demonstrate that there was good social policy and humane economic […]

November 13, 2018 by Jan Rivers

Invitation to Education and Political Literacy in New Zealand: Civics and Citizenship Summit

This one day conference is presented by the New Zealand Political Studies Association (NZPSA) / Te Kāhui Tātai Tōrangapū o Aotearoa Civics and Citizenship Working Group, to discuss Civics and Citizenship. It is being held the same week as the NZPSA annual conference. Canterbury University’s Bronwyn Hayward has extended an invitation to Public Good newsletter […]