New Zealand PM Expresses Regret Over Child Abuse Scandal in State and Religious Care

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has expressed regret following a public inquiry that revealed that about 200,000 children, young people, and vulnerable adults were mistreated in state and church care during the last 70 years.

Nearly one in every three children and vulnerable adults in care from 1950 to 2019 experienced some type of abuse, according to a research released on Wednesday, a finding that could cost the government billions of dollars in new compensation claims.

“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,” Luxon claimed at a news conference.

An official apology will be issued on November 12, he stated.

New Zealand Government and Religious Failures

The report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry interviewed nearly 2,300 survivors of abuse in New Zealand, which has a population of 5.3 million. The probe found a long list of abuses in state and faith-based care, including rape, sterilization, and electric shocks, which peaked in the 1970s.

The Indigenous Maori population, as well as individuals with mental or physical disabilities, were particularly vulnerable to abuse, according to the research.

Civil and religious officials tried to conceal abuse by relocating offenders and rejecting blame, resulting in many victims dying before receiving justice, according to the report.

“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,” according to the investigation.

It issued 138 recommendations, including a plea for public apologies from New Zealand’s government, as well as the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury, the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican religions, who have previously condemned child abuse.

It also called on the government to establish a Care Safe Agency to monitor the business, as well as new legislation requiring mandatory reporting of suspected abuse, including admissions made during religious confession.

The average lifetime cost to an abuse survivor, defined as what New Zealanders would consider normal, day-to-day activities, was estimated in 2020 to be around NZ$857,000 ($511,200.50) per person, though the report did not specify the amount of compensation available to survivors.

Luxon estimated that the total compensation payable to survivors could reach into billions of dollars.

“We’re opening up the redress conversations and we’re going through that work with survivor groups,” he informed me.

The committee also recommended reparations to families cared for by survivors of abuse as a result of the intergenerational trauma they experienced, as well as a review of compensation paid in past child abuse instances, notably at the state-run Lake Alice adolescent facility.

“The most important element is to recognise and acknowledge the survivors for the reality and truth of their lives,” said Tracey McIntosh, a sociologist from the University of Auckland.

Source: CNN