The horrifying inquiry conducted by the Royal Commission of New Zealand revealed on Wednesday that over 250,000 children, young adults and vulnerable adults held in faith-based and state care institutions were abused by the staff for nearly seven decades. The report sheds light on brutal and violent acts, which in some cases proved fatal, in the very establishments meant to protect the victims.
"Up to 655,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were in State and faith-based care (affiliated religious institutions, such as church-run orphanages) during 1950-2019 and up to 250,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused," said the commission in its report.
This accounts for almost 40% of the 655,000 people in care during that period, with most abuse occurring in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to the interim report, a wide range of abuse and physical, emotional, psychological, medical, educational, spiritual, and cultural neglect occurred. Common factors in the abuse cases include a lack of training, vetting and poor complaint and response processes, while the worst cases include harassment or punishment for reporting abuse. Most survivors were aged between 5 and 17. The report revealed that "discrimination and racism played a role from authorities and the public in both being taken into care and the treatment received in care."
"The hurt and anguish that has been caused in New Zealand's history is inexcusable,” said Minister for the Public Service Chris Hipkins, who described the report as a "difficult read." "All children in the care of the state should be safe from harm, but as the testimony sets out, all too often the opposite was true."
The abuse included physical assault and sexual abuse, with staff in some psychiatric institutions forcing male patients to rape female patients. It also included the improper use of medical procedures including electric shocks on genitals and legs, improper strip searches and vaginal examinations, verbal abuse and racial slurs.
"Sometimes I'd have shock treatment twice a day," said Anne, who at 17 was placed in a psychiatric institution in 1979. "The records (said) I went blind, then they gave me shock treatment again that night," she told the inquiry, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Royal Commission in 2018 saying the country needed to confront "a dark chapter" in its history and later expanded it to include churches and other faith-based institutions. The report said the likelihood of children and young people abused in faith-based or religious homes ranges from 21% to 42%. It found the number of people passing through care institutions was six times higher than previously estimated.
"On any assessment, this is a serious and long-standing social problem that needs to be addressed," the report said, adding there was evidence that abuse continued today.
The inquiry comes after private and public redress hearings where survivors bravely narrated harrowing accounts of physical and sexual abuse.
One indigenous Maori survivor, Peter, told the inquiry he drove a car off a cliff in an attempt to commit suicide to escape the abuse.
"I didn't wanna live anymore. I went over a cliff and smashed head-on into a bank. Again, if anybody just stopped and looked at why, they would have figured something out, but they didn't," he said.
Abuse survivors said a "culture of silence and secrecy" kept the abuse hidden from the outside world. The report said many survivors now suffer mental health issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and battle substance abuse. The Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand said it would study the report to learn how to deal with complaints and prevent abuse.
"We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to so many by the abuse they suffered, and we continue to express our profound sorrow," said the Archbishop of Wellington Cardinal John Dew.
The report acknowledged that Maori children probably suffered the most, as 81% of children abused in care are Maori, while 69% of the children in care are Maori. It said some faith-based institutions sought to "cleanse" the cultural identity of Maori people in care through sexual and physical abuse.
Thousands of Maori people protested across New Zealand last year calling for an end to the practice of taking at-risk children away from families and placing them in state care.
Critics of the practice have said the process is racially skewed against the Maori and is a legacy of colonization.
Neighboring Australia delivered a national apology in 2017 after a five-year inquiry into child sexual abuse revealed thousands of cases of sexual misconduct largely committed at religious and state-run institutions. The Royal Commission will make recommendations to the government in its final report. It is one of the longest and most complex commissions of inquiry undertaken in New Zealand.
