Police have confirmed three new complainants have come forward with allegations against Mama Hooch rapists Roberto and Danny Jaz.
A support service for victims of sexual assault says the number of people seeking help has skyrocketed since the case first came to light.
Sophie Brown has become the face of the many brave survivors of the Jaz brothers.
She was the only survivor in the case to drop her name suppression, and in doing so inspired others to speak up.
"I had so many women reach out to me through Instagram, through Facebook, and they would talk about seeing the trial and everything like that and just how empowered they felt to actually deal with their own trauma or their own assault, or whatever happened to them," Brown said.
The evidence of Brown and 22 other women collectively brought the brothers to justice in what became one of the largest police prosecutions of its type in New Zealand.
The brothers were convicted last year of a total of 69 sex crimes, including rape and drugging charges, against dozens of women.
They worked at their father Michael Jaz's bar Mama Hooch and restaurant Venuti. They used these venues to target young female customers and staff, spiking their drinks and then often sexually assaulting or raping them.
In August 2023, Danny and Roberto were sentenced to 16.5 years and 17 years imprisonment, respectively.
Canterbury's sexual violence support service Aviva said its referrals went "through the roof" since the trial.
The quarter following the trial, Aviva had a 58 percent increase in sexual violence support referrals, which was up 80 percent on the same quarter the year before.
Since then, the demand for the service has consistently stayed above 50 referrals each month - that's more than one person a day reaching out for help.
"They could see the women and myself going through what we had been through in order to work through our trauma, ignited them to actually do something," Brown said.
Aviva general manager Gwenda Kendrew said very quickly after the case was brought to the media, the service was getting a response from people who had been involved in that situation.
"Maybe people who had historic sexual assault or people who were experiencing it at this time," Kendrew said.
"It's given people the confidence or the encouragement to be able to speak up and have something happen for the situation they might of experienced."
Kendrew said sexual violence remains a problem in New Zealand.
"It continues to be at a level that we're constantly surprised at. We're dealing with quite a big problem here in New Zealand," she said.
Sexual assault convictions are also on the rise. Last year, 889 people were convicted on 3455 offences. It is up from 3060 the year before.
Now, police have confirmed three new complainants have come forward with allegations against the Jaz brothers.
"It does bring a sense of purpose in everything that happened to me. Because what happened to me sucks but the reality is it happens to lots of other women," Brown said.
"I think I got to a place where I could tell my story, hence why I lifted name suppression, was I felt like the journey I had been on and the healing that I had done, I had worked on it enough to be able to articulate it for other people.
"That, in of itself, has just been something good to have come out of a really bad situation."
Where to get help:
- NZ Police
- Victim Support 0800 842 846
- Aviva's Sexual Violence Team [Canterbury] (03) 378 3847 or 0800 AVIVA NOW (0800 28482 669)
- Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00
- Rape Prevention Education
- Empowerment Trust
- HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655 - push 0 at the menu
- Safe to talk: a 24/7 confidential helpline for survivors, support people and those with harmful sexual behaviour: 0800044334
- Male Survivors Aotearoa
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496
- If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
