New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (2024)

New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (1)New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (2)Getty Images

Some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care in New Zealand over the last 70 years, a landmark investigation has found.

It means almost one in three children in care from 1950 to 2019 suffered some form of abuse, including being subject to rape, electric shocks and forced labour, according to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The publication of the commission's final report follows a six-year investigation into the experiences of nearly 3,000 people.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised for the findings, calling it "a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand's history as a society".

The inquiry was New Zealand's biggest and most expensive to date, costing about NZ$170m ($101m; £78m).

Many of those abused have come from disadvantaged or marginalised communities, including Māori and Pacific people, as well as those with disabilities.

The findings come as vindication for a people who have found themselves facing down powerful officialdom, the state, and religious institutions - and often struggling to be believed.

Faith-based institutions often had higher rates of sexual abuse than state care, the inquiry found.

Civil and faith leaders fought to cover up abuse by moving abusers to other locations and denying culpability, with many victims dying before seeing justice, the report said.

Weighing 14kg, it was brought together over 100 days of public hearings - starting back in 2018.

Speaking at its launch, the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was a "chance to confront our history and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again".

More than 2,300 survivors spoke to the inquiry, which found that in most cases, "abuses and neglect almost always started from the first day".

One survivor, Anna Thompson, told the commission how she was physically and verbally abused at a faith-based orphanage.

"At night, the nuns would strip my clothes off, tie me to the bed face down, and thrash me with a belt with the buckle. It cut into my skin until I bled and I couldn’t sit down afterwards for weeks," she said in testimony published in the report.

Jesse Kett spoke of how he was beaten and raped by staff in a residential school in Auckland when he was eight years old - recounting in his testimony that other staff members would sometimes watch the abuse happen.

Moeapulu Frances Tagaloa was abused by a priest for two years from the age of five in the 1970s.

"He was a popular, well-known teacher," she said.

"But he was also a paedophile and unfortunately there were other little girls that he abused."

Ms Tagaloa now works to help other survivors and has called for all 138 recommendations included in the report to be implemented.

The report found that Māori and Pacific survivors endured higher levels of physical abuse, and were often "degraded because of their ethnicity and skin colour".

It also found that children and people in foster care experienced the highest levels of sexual abuse among various social welfare care settings.

"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," the report said.

"Many survivors died while they were in care or by suicide following care. For others, the impacts of abuse are ongoing and compounding, making everyday activities and choices challenging," it added.

Prime Minister Luxon said: "We should have done better, and I am determined we will do so.

"To every person who took part, I say thank you for your exceptional strength, your incredible courage and your confronting honesty. Because of you, we know the truth about the abuse and trauma you have endured," he said, describing many of the stories as horrific and harrowing.

"I cannot take away your pain, but I can tell you this: you are heard and you are believed."

He added that it was too soon to reveal how much the government expected to pay victims in compensation. He said he would offer a formal apology on 12 November.

Speaking to the BBC, Grant Robertson, a former deputy prime minister who was involved in commissioning the report, said it had been a "long time coming".

He said like many New Zealanders, he felt "a great sense of shame" and "an appreciation of the depth of hurt that’s felt by survivors, and also with a desire that we make good on what is a horrific situation".

According to the report, the economic cost of this abuse and neglect has been estimated to be anywhere from NZ$96bn to $217bn, taking into consideration negative outcomes including increased mental and physical healthcare costs, homelessness and crime.

On Wednesday, dozens of care abuse survivors took part in a march to parliament before the inquiry was released.

One survivor called the report "historic".

"For decades they told us we made it up," Toni Jarvis told news agency Reuters. "So this today is historic and it's an acknowledgement. It acknowledges all the survivors that have been courageous enough to share their stories."

New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (3)New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (4)Reuters

Academic Dr Rawiri Waretini-Karena, who was a witness in the inquiry, had earlier spoken about the "pipeline from state care to prison".

Dr Waretini-Karena, who spent 10 years in prison, told the inquiry about abuse he suffered as a child in a boys' home.

"When I walked into the prison yard for the first time as a teenager, having never been there before - I already knew 80% of the men in there. We'd spent the last 11 years growing up together in state care," he wrote in an opinion piece for Radio New Zealand.

"That's when I knew there was a pipeline to prison; a pipeline that has spent decades sweeping up and funnelling Māori children from state care to prison."

Dr Waretini-Karena added that the Royal Commission's report acknowledged "that whilst we are responsible for our actions, we are not responsible for the hidden mechanisms that operate within the environment we are born into, privileging one faction at the expense of the other".

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New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care (2024)

FAQs

New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care? ›

More than 200,000 people are estimated to have been abused by state and religious organizations in New Zealand that had been entrusted with their care, according to the final report from a landmark independent inquiry released on Wednesday.

Did New Zealand inquiry find 200000 abused in state and religious care? ›

The “Abuse of Care” royal commission found that “of the estimated 655,000 children, young people and adults in care from 1950 to 2019, it is estimated that 200,000 were abused and even more were neglected”. Some children were subjected to seizure-inducing electroconvulsive therapy.

Did New Zealand apologize after Enquiry finds 200000 children and vulnerable adults abused in care? ›

In response to the findings, New Zealand's government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture, and pledged an apology to all those abused in state, foster and religious care since 1950.

What is the abuse in care report in New Zealand? ›

The royal commission's final report and recommendations were publicly released on 24 July 2024. The 3,000-page report concluded that between 113,000 and 253,000 children, young people and adults had been abused and neglected at state and faith-based institutions in New Zealand between 1950 and 1999.

What is the New Zealand abuse scandal? ›

The treatment of people in New Zealand's state and faith-based care institutions has been described as a “national disgrace” after a landmark report revealed the harrowing scale of abuse 200,000 children and adults suffered at the hands of those entrusted with their safety.

Who are the priests accused of abuse in New Zealand? ›

These were Br Charles Afeaki (Invercargill), Br Kenneth Camden (Christchurch), Br Sione Losalu (Napier), Br Bryan McKay (Hamilton), Br Andrew Cody (Feilding), Br Bernard Stevenson (Fielding), Br Bede Hampton (Masterton), Br Patrick Bignell (Hutt Valley) and Br Claudius Pettit (Lower Hutt).

Why is New Zealand so religious? ›

European missionaries and settlers brought varieties of British Protestantism and French Catholicism. Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians shaped the structure, values and traditions of the new society. Almost all Māori adopted forms of Christianity, so New Zealand was regarded as a Christian nation.

What is the New Zealand church scandal? ›

July 24 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised and promised reforms on Wednesday after a public inquiry found some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused in state and religious care over the last 70 years.

What was the worst childhood abuse case? ›

Elisa Izquierdo (February 11, 1989 – November 22, 1995) was a six-year-old Puerto Rican–Cuban-American girl who died of a brain hemorrhage inflicted by her mother, Awilda Lopez, at the peak of a prolonged and escalating campaign of physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse conducted between 1994 and 1995.

What is the New Zealand Collective of abused in State Care? ›

New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care Charitable Trust (NZCAST) is a beacon of hope and transformation for individuals impacted by state care. Our mission is to foster healing, growth, and empowerment through our tailored wānanga (educational workshops) and support services.

Was almost one in three people in care were abused in New Zealand? ›

Almost one in three people in NZ care was abused. Some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care in New Zealand over the last 70 years, a landmark investigation has found.

What are the 4 types of abuse in care? ›

Safeguarding in education: SCIE resource

Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. Emotional abuse. Neglect.

What is the most common abuse in care? ›

Emotional abuse (also known as verbal or psychological abuse) occurs when someone insults a resident or uses threats to control them. It is the most commonly occurring of all the nursing home types of abuse. According to the WHO, over 32% of nursing home staff members said they emotionally abused residents.

What is the biggest crime in New Zealand? ›

The most common crimes experienced were fraud and deception, burglaries (288,000 offences experienced by 10 percent of households), and physical offences including physical assault and robbery.

What is New Zealand's Stolen Generation? ›

Māori have called children taken into state care New Zealand's "Stolen Generation" - a reference to Indigenous Australians forcibly taken from their families as children under an official policy of assimilation.

Is the New Zealand social media influencer guilty? ›

Jurors in the High Court at Auckland found the defendant guilty in June 2022 of five counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection after two victims said he preyed on them while they were unconscious or asleep. He was sentenced three months later to nine years' imprisonment.

What is the New Zealand Collective of Abused in state Care? ›

New Zealand Collective of Abused in State Care Charitable Trust (NZCAST) is a beacon of hope and transformation for individuals impacted by state care. Our mission is to foster healing, growth, and empowerment through our tailored wānanga (educational workshops) and support services.

What event happened in 1956 that caused people to seek refuge in New Zealand? ›

New Zealand showed another dimension to its support for the West in the Cold War in the wake of the October–November uprising against communism in Hungary. In the face of a Soviet-led crackdown, more than 200,000 Hungarian civilians sought refuge abroad. New Zealand offered sanctuary to just over 1000 of them.

What is the religious discrimination bill NZ? ›

The Human Rights Act (HRA) prohibits discrimination based on religious and ethical belief (which the HRA defines as lack of a religious belief, whether in respect of a particular religion or religions or all religions) in employment; business partnerships; access to places, vehicles and facilities, the provision of ...

How many people are abused in NZ? ›

Nearly one in three people in state or religious care between 1950 and 2019 experienced abuse, inquiry finds. New Zealand's state and faith-based institutions presided over the abuse of some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults over the span of seven decades, an independent inquiry has found.

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