Welcome to the Nelson District Court jury room, where it’s still 1976.
At least, it seems that way when reading the juror questions that resulted in a recent sexual assault trial being abandoned, as reported by Open Justice this week.
The complainant in the case gave evidence at trial alleging she was sexually violated after a night out drinking with colleagues.
The jury, after asking about her belt, shoe size and small delay in reporting the incident to police, then turned its attention to her underwear and sexual history.
“How many times had she had sex with a man prior to this situation with Mr [suppressed]?” the jury asked, followed by, “Her underwear – is it a typical style and colour she wears daily, or only for special occasions?”
The Crown called foul and the judge declared a mistrial, finding the jury was too “entrenched” in misconceptions to render a fair verdict.
These misconceptions included that sexual history affects credibility, that clothing signals consent, and that certain behaviours make a complainant more or less believable.
It is encouraging to hear the court rejected these attitudes so decisively; less so that it was necessary at all.
If this jury did accurately represent the wider community, as the justice system strives for, that suggests New Zealand has a way to go in adjusting attitudes towards female sexual assault complainants.
The 2025 Gender Attitudes Survey, published in September, found 17% of New Zealanders think that if someone is raped when they’re drunk then they’re at least partly responsible for it, while 11% believe that if someone does not physically fight back, you can’t call it rape.
It’s grim that these attitudes, which perpetuate thoroughly debunked rape myths that shift blame from offender to victim, persist in 2026.
The survey also found that one in three young Kiwi men – aged 18 to 34 – believe equality has gone too far.
That statistic will not surprise viewers of the latest Netflix documentary by Louis Theroux.
The British journalist immerses himself in the manosphere – online forums that promote masculinity and oppose feminism – by spending time with content creators as they spout astonishingly misogynistic views to audiences of millions who appear to be primarily made up of young men.
It’s a bleak watch. To say those featured promote double standards when judging the behaviour of women, compared to their own, is understating it by some degrees.
There are plenty of signs that, across the Western world, gains made towards gender equality over decades are under assault by those who prefer a world of dominant men and submissive women.
The links between gender inequality and misogyny, and sexual violence or harassment against women, are well documented.
The risk that regressive attitudes towards gender infiltrate important New Zealand spaces, including courtrooms, is clear and present.
And it won’t always be as overt as a question about underwear choice.