Gender barriers for women in the military are being addressed with a new initiative.
Operation RESPECT was recently launched by the New Zealand Defence Force and seeks to establish a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour.
The project has taken two years and has derived an action plan focused on things like establishing strategies to challenge sexism, increasing sexual ethics training, implementing an alternative way to report sexual assaults and introducing a response team dedicated to these incidents.
Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating said the plan had been directed by two imperatives; looking after their people and recruiting and retaining more women.
"Two years ago the Ministry of Defence produced a ground-breaking report, Maximising Opportunities for Military Women, which challenged us to lift our game on a number of fronts."