On 24th July, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon voiced regret after a public investigation revealed that during the previous 70 years, around 200,000 children, adolescents and vulnerable adults had been mistreated under state and church care. The report’s conclusion that nearly one in three vulnerable adults and children in care from 1950 to 2019 suffered from abuse could expose the government to billions of dollars worth of new compensation claims.
Christopher Luxon expressed, “This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand’s history as a society and as a state, we should have done better, and I am determined that we will do so. New Zealanders don’t think this thing would happen, that abuse on this scale would ever happen in New Zealand. We always thought that we were exceptional and different, and the reality is we’re not,” at a news conference. On 12th November, there will be a formal apology.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into “Abuse of Care” spoke with over 2,300 survivors of abuse. Since concerns were ignored and documents lost or destroyed, the actual numbers were probably greater but would never be known. It was dubbed the most comprehensive investigation of its type (which lasted for six years) by those in charge of the probe. It assessed abuse in foster homes, state-run hospitals, educational and medical facilities, and faith-based healthcare. The investigation revealed a long list of mistreatment at public and religious facilities, including rape, grooming, sterilization and electric shock therapy, that peaked in the 1970s.
Children were taken from their homes in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner. The bulk of criminal gang members and inmates in New Zealand are suspected to have spent time in care. Individuals belonging to the Indigenous Māori community and those with physical or mental problems were particularly susceptible to maltreatment. While the Māori population made up less than 20% of the total population of New Zealand during the period under study, they accounted for the majority of the children in care.
According to the report, the scope of the abuse was “unimaginable,” governmental and religious institutions were not closely monitored and predators hardly ever faced consequences. Religious and civil officials battled to conceal abuse by transferring perpetrators to different places and assigning blame, causing many victims to pass away before receiving justice. Officials at the time of the abuse were “either oblivious or indifferent” about protecting children despite many of the worst instances had long been known.
The report pointed out, “It is a national disgrace that hundreds of thousands of children, young people and adults were abused and neglected in the care of the state and faith-based institutions. These gross violations occurred at the same time that Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country to grow up as a child in a loving family.”
It stated, “These gross violations occurred at the same time as Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country in which to grow up as a child in a loving family. If this injustice is not addressed, it will remain as a stain on our national character forever.”
42% in faith-based care abused
A report created for inquiry revealed that up to 42% of people receiving care from faith-based organizations across all denominations had experienced abuse. It added that many more were taken advantage of or ignored. In a 2020 report to the commission, the Catholic Church noted that throughout the investigation, allegations had been made against 14% of its clergy in New Zealand.
The authors of the inquiry urged a probe of a Catholic order’s priests who had been transferred to Papua New Guinea to avoid allegations of abuse in Australia and New Zealand. It was mentioned that not much was known about “the needs of potential survivors or the nature and extent of abuse and neglect there.” The Anglican Church in New Zealand released a statement: “We acknowledge and take full responsibility for our failures to provide the safe, caring and nurturing environment those who have been in our care had a right to expect and to receive.”
The Catholic Church of New Zealand also responded to the development and issued a statement acknowledging that it had previously admitted the abuse had occurred and was carefully evaluating the results.”We will ensure that action follows our review of the inquiry’s findings,” the statement asserted.
Recommendations of the report
A public apology from the government of New Zealand and the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican churches, who have denounced child abuse in the past, were among the 138 recommendations outlined in the report. Furthermore, it demanded that the government enact new laws requiring the reporting of any suspicions of abuse, including confessions made during religious services, and establish a Care Safe Agency to supervise the sector.
Although the report did not specify how much compensation was available for survivors, it estimated that in 2020, the average lifetime cost to an abuse survivor what New Zealanders would consider normal, day-to-day activities would be roughly NZ$857,000 ($511,200.50) per person. According to the prime minister, survivors may be entitled to compensation totalling billions of dollars. “We’re opening up the redress conversations, and we’re going through that work with survivor groups,” he highlighted but conveyed that it was premature to guarantee that officials who denied or covered up abuses would lose their positions.
The probe also suggested reviewing the compensation given in past child abuse instances, particularly at the state-run Lake Alice adolescent institution, and making payments to families who have been cared for by abuse survivors because of the intergenerational trauma they experienced. Notably, the governments of New Zealand denied the necessity of an investigation of this kind as recently as 2015, and official organisations maintained that the abuse had not been widespread.
