Police have launched an urgent internal investigation into whether they failed to properly investigate an alleged assault.
It comes after a young woman stripped down on a popular Auckland street on Friday in protest against what she’s calling a lack of action from New Zealand Police to properly look into her report of an alleged assault.
Jazmine Phillips, 26, stood hand-in-hand with friend Kyah Dove on Karangahape Road, covered in fake blood, over a sign asking, “Do women have to be dead before police respond to violence?”
On January 29, Ms Phillips says she was walking to her car with her partner after going out for dinner on K Road when the alleged assault took place.
A man allegedly made sexual gestures towards Ms Phillips and her partner after they hugged each other.
The man then allegedly jumped out of his vehicle after Ms Phillips rejected the sexual advances and started hitting her in the back of her head.
After calling police, the women say they were told officers would follow up with them later that evening or the next day. They allegedly heard nothing.
Ms Phillips’ partner went into the station the following day to file an official report but was allegedly told Ms Phillips herself needed to be there to file it. No victim support was offered and she was turned away in tears, she says.
Ms Phillips says the assault left her feeling "defeated and very powerless".
"Going through that assault was quite a traumatising experience for me. It happened on K Road, where I often play gigs and do performances and where I want to feel OK to walk alone at night, and it left me feeling really defeated.”
A performance artist by trade, Ms Phillips decided to get naked in what she described as an effort to take back her power.
The pair were swamped with an outpouring of support from women, men and local businesses.
“I was scared and I was vulnerable but I was also very moved by a lot of eye contact and interactions I had with people and the support I had. I had a lot of women come up to me and thank me and grab my hand and say that it means a lot to them, [women] of all ages… But I felt devastated that so many people had experienced that [assault] and could relate to it.”
Police officers responded to the protest. Within five minutes of the hour-long demonstration, Ms Phillips said she received word from police her report would be investigated.
“I had a phone call from the police and victim support, which you could say is a success but I don’t think that victims of sexual assault and violence and things should have to go to those lengths.”
Ms Phillips says she doesn’t want others to go through what she’s had to go through and wants to see police respond seriously to all cases of assault and violence - investigating them properly to ensure people’s safety.
“In the scheme of K Road, it’s a very diverse place with a lot of voices and a lot of people," she says. "It’s a community that exists of an art scene, a lot of people of colour, a lot of trans women, a queer scene, a lot of musicians. I’m someone in that community that's voice is louder and I’m kept more safe, and if I’m making the call and I’m not kept safe - then who is? That’s my question."
Police say they’re in contact with the two women who protested on Karangahape Road to discuss their concerns.
Auckland District Commander superintendent Karyn Malthus says the matter is being followed up urgently.
“We understand they have concerns about an incident where one of the women was assaulted in January, and the way it was handled.”
“We need to establish the exact circumstances around the incident and what happened when they reported it,” Ms Malthus said.
She says it was “very concerning that these women feel let down by police and we are doing everything we can to establish exactly what happened, work with the victims and address their concerns”.
Police would not comment on concerns surrounding the handling of other assault cases.
By Emily Heyward
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