Woman falsely accused of theft wants penalties for racial profiling

A woman falsely accused of theft from a Bay of Plenty op shop wants retailers to address bias against customers, and says there should be penalties for racial profiling.

Tauranga therapist Jasmin Tui Rewiri was “shamed, hurt and deeply traumatised” after being falsely accused of theft and trespassed from a Waipuna Hospice charity store in her neighbourhood.

Chief executive of the hospice, Richard Thurlow, later sent an email of apology, and Rewiri was told she could still shop there, but she says it did not address the underlying issue.

“Shops need to do more to put an end to racial profiling from staff, both training and cultural understanding. It happens everywhere and there are no consequences.”

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On June 16, Rewiri was browsing in the store, where she had regularly purchased items.

When trying on a coat, she was approached by the store manager who asked her to leave the shop.

“Outside, she thrust her phone in my face, and said I was trespassed for theft. I was so taken aback, had no clue what she was talking about – and felt extremely embarrassed as this was in a busy street, and I live around here.”

On the phone, the manager had a photo of Rewiri in the store on another day looking at a bracelet.

“She said I had stolen it, and it had been reported to the police. I told her I did not take the bracelet. I knew I’d done nothing wrong, but felt threatened and scared. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was shaking, and went to my car sobbing.”

When Rewiri tells the story, she is visibly upset, in tears.

“It hurts on such a deep level, my mana, and the hurt I feel for my whānau, my grandparents, everyone who has their power taken away. Retailers need to understand the pain they are causing, and right this wrong.”

After complaining to Waipuna Hospice, and raising racial profiling she initially received a text from a general manager.

“He said he’d look into it after the weekend, that they take security seriously. It made me more anxious. The following week, he said I wasn’t trespassed, and he was sorry how ‘it made you feel’, like shifting the blame on me. He also dropped things like ‘tikanga’ as though it made everything ok – but if it’s lip-service it’s not.”

Rewiri returned to the store to ask the manager to delete the photo.

“She smirked at me, and said someone else was dealing with it. Not sorry at all.”

When Rewiri suggested a hui at her marae, she said the general manager was taken aback.

“He said, ‘really, why, what for?’”

After Stuff’s enquiries to Waipuna Hospice’s chief executive, Richard Thurlow, the following day on June 11 Rewiri received an email from Thurlow agreeing to a hui.

Thurlow told Stuff a “process” was underway.

“We are deeply saddened that this situation has occurred. Waipuna Hospice is currently working with Jasmin, our team members, and our cultural advisor, to resolve the matter kanohi ki te kanohi.

“This tikanga-based process needs to be completed in a thorough and respectful way, so we will not make any further comment while it is underway.”

Thurlow said to Rewiri that he had never experienced this in the shops, but apologised this had happened.

“Again a denial, and of course he hasn’t because he’s a white man. If you haven’t had it happen to you, people don’t know it exists,” she said.

A board member of the hospice, Kipouaka Pukekura, described as ‘Tangata Whenua Representative’, who acted as the hospice’s cultural advisor had been supportive, Rewiri said.

“She invited me to her home. We had a cup of tea, and talked, and that’s what you do. She understands the pain.”

Disturbed by the implications of racial profiling, Rewiri contacted the Human Rights Commission, and is getting advice from a lawyer, she said.

“Many people have shared their own stories to me of how this happened to them in all sorts of places. If you’re Māori, you know. People feel ashamed to speak out, but there needs to be awareness to make it stop.”

In 2021 two young Māori women were upset when they were followed around Farmers in Tauranga, and one told she was “undesirable”.

Anti-discrimination laws make it illegal to be racially harassed by employers, landlords, shopkeepers, government staff and others in public life.

The Human Rights Act 1993 defines this as “language, visual material or physical behaviour that expresses hostility against you or brings you into contempt or ridicule because of your colour, race, or ethnic or national origins, and is hurtful or offensive to you”.