Abuse in state care is worse than previously thought and continues to occur: report

The abuse in New Zealand institutions is more significant than previously thought and continues to this day, a Royal Commission of Inquiry concluded in its first report.

The report, Tāwharau: Pūrongo a te Wā, details the findings of the public and private hearings held so far in the five-year investigation, which began in 2018 under the Coalition Government and covers the period between 1950 and 1999.

In total, 1,900 survivors and 350 witnesses participate, along with state institutions such as the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education, and religious institutions such as churches and religious schools.

The interim report describes the relentless misery of abuse victims in state institutions, detailing how they were often worse off in care despite coming from broken homes.

Abuses were rife, reporting processes were non-existent or inadequate, and abusers were rarely held accountable, were often transferred to another institution without punishment, or their crimes were covered up by senior officials.

The state’s redress process was also described as unsatisfactory and almost exclusively focused on controlling costs while aggressively defending itself in court or creating complicated out-of-court processes and offering meager compensation.

“This is not the best of New Zealand,” said Public Service Minister Chris Hipkins at a news conference in Parliament this afternoon.

“This is New Zealand at its worst. We will all be horrified by some of its stories.”

In a statement, Hipkins acknowledged the courage and determination of the survivors who relived their experiences with the commission.

“The report is difficult to read and shows the enormity of the abuse and trauma that has occurred. The pain and anguish that has been caused in New Zealand’s history is unforgivable.”

The interim report does not include recommendations. But the government said it was already considering two changes in areas that had concerned survivors: a centralized grievance process and the reform of the Limitations Law.

“Survivors have told us that it is difficult for them to navigate the different redress processes operated by state agencies, and we are exploring whether a single entry point for historical claims is possible.

“The Limitation Law, which sets time limits for the recognition of civil claims against the state, has been used to deny claims in court, and we are already looking at how the Law could be applied in the future for claims of historical abuse.”

There is no statute of limitations for reporting abuse in New Zealand, but there is a six-year limit for civil claims against the state, such as negligence.

Hipkins said it was important to keep in mind the changes that have already been made since 2000, including improved research, training and supervision of staff and caregivers.

One of the key findings of the commission’s interim report was that the extent of the abuse in care was significant, possibly more than was initially believed.

According to a commissioned report, an estimated 655,000 people were served between 1950 and 1999 and as many as 250,000 may have been abused, although the commission noted that there were large gaps and deficiencies in the data and this was a rough estimate.

“But this work indicates that even conservative estimates, there has been more abuse than previously thought. These numbers are likely to underestimate the problem. Another point to note is that this abuse of care continues to this day.”

The survivors came from all backgrounds and backgrounds, but many came from the most vulnerable sections of society: Maori and Pacific families, disabled people, women and girls, and poor households.

Many were removed because they lived in unsafe homes but ended up worse off in care.

Maori were overrepresented in referrals from criminal courts and welfare, and this could be partly attributed to discriminatory attitudes from officials and police.

The most common forms of abuse were physical and sexual abuse, and survivors also spoke of unreasonable physical restraint; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; use of medical procedures such as electroshock therapy as punishment; unjustified solitary confinement; inappropriate nude searches and vaginal exams; and verbal abuse and racist slurs.

Maori and Pacific survivors, in particular, reported cultural neglect, making it difficult for them to have any sense of identity or to reconnect with whanau. In particular, Pacific people in care were encouraged to abandon their Pacific identity.

The commission identified some common factors in abuse cases, including a lack of vetting, training and supervision of care workers, a lack of clear processes for filing complaints about abuse, and a lack of response to disclosures about abuse. properly.

There were huge barriers to challenging authority and the perpetrators were rarely punished.

“At times, victims were punished for reporting abuse or placed in abusive families or settings after it was disclosed,” the report says.

“We heard about active attempts to cover up the abuse and / or transfer the abuser or abusers after the victims made allegations.”

The state’s reparation processes were “too focused on the financial implications for the state” rather than providing satisfactory compensation to survivors.

The Crown “vigorously defended” the claims in court and government agencies developed alternative out-of-court claims processes that survivors described as lengthy, opaque and full of obstacles.

The settlements offered to the survivors were inconsistent and too low. The commission’s analysis found that the estimated cost to survivors of abuse was around $ 910,000 per person, but many were offered less than a tenth of that amount.

Survivors were often disbelieved, made to tell their stories over and over again, and were traumatized again. Many never knew that they could even make a claim.

The report said his next focus would be on juvenile justice facilities, schools and foster care.

A second report summarized the findings from the accounts of 50 victims and identified common themes.

He said almost all of the survivors were repeatedly moved between homes and institutions, some more than 10 times. Half of them also had a sibling in their care.

The abuse was most common when the victims were between the ages of five and 17, though it ranged up to age 20. Most of the survivors were abused for periods of between five and ten years. For most of them, the impact on their behavior and mental health was lifelong.