Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another.
Henri Nouwen
Damning revelations from a former church fixer reveals that almost all St John of God Catholic brothers faced allegations of physical or sexual abuse. Steve Kilgallon reports. In 2002, Sydney clinical psychologist Michelle Mulvihill made 13 trips to New Zealand; visits which took her the entire length of the country. It wasn’t a pleasant experience:…
Dunedin victims of church abuse were likely to number even more than those shown in national figures released on Tuesday, a survivor’s advocate has said. The Catholic Church had released the figures which showed 1122 survivors had laid almost 1700 complaints naming almost 600 perpetrators of abuse. Male Survivors Otago manager Michael Chamberlain said the…
As many as one in seven Catholic diocesan clergy in New Zealand have been accused of abuse, according to an investigation by the church. But groups representing victims say that is likely to be a fraction of the actual abuse within the church, which often went unreported or unrecorded. The Catholic Church reported on the…
Corrections staff who are victims of sexual assault in prison are not being treated sensitively or offered adequate support, a staff union says. Sexual assault charges have been laid against prisoners in 17 incidents where Corrections staff were assaulted in the last five years. In that same period, another 44 allegations of sexual assault were…
A 25-year plan to tackle the amount of violence in New Zealand homes is being unveiled by the government this morning. The country’s first National Strategy for eliminating family violence and sexual violence, called Te Aorerekura, will see 10 agencies working together. Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Marama Davidson said Te Aorerekura represents…
Children in sex assault trials are blamed for their own abuse, criticised for keeping secrets and repeatedly accused of lying by defence lawyers, causing extreme distress and undermining their ability to give evidence, a study has found. Judges either failed to stop such questioning or cut off inappropriate lines of cross-examination too late, trial transcripts…
It finally feels as though Lake Alice survivors are being listened to after a former staff member was charged, says one former patient. Selwyn Leeks is a 92-year-old with dementia. As lead psychiatrist at the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit in the 1970s, he is said to have administered electric shocks and paralysing drugs…
The Moral Drift is the name of an exhibition that is on at the Tauranga Art Gallery until January 23rd. The exhibition investigates a partial history of our state care system, uncovering a legacy of abuse and the resiliency of the survivors who continue to seek justice today. It’s a collaborative project using several different…
A new strategy aims to eliminate family and sexual violence without even using the word “perpetrator”. Will a plan focusing on healing and prevention be enough to turn our appalling statistics around? OPINION: If ever there was a poisoned chalice in politics, it was the job awarded to Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson following the 2020…
John’s* life has been blighted by the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his Catholic school principal. Forty years on, he is having to appeal to the Marist Brothers for redress, the very institution who employed the perpetrator. John was shut out of the investigation before being offered a compensation figure he describes as insulting…
In Kansas City, six men who were sexually abused by Catholic priests as children collaborate with a film crew to tell their stories — but not in the way you might think. They don’t act as talking heads in the manner of a traditional documentary, nor is this a fictional adaptation of their lives. Rather, Procession centers…
An independent review into the access and use of client information within ACC will be led by prominent lawyer Linda Clark. The review was announced after RNZ revealed a group of ACC staff shared and laughed at client information in a private Snapchat group, amid recent concerns around inappropriate access to sensitive claims which relate to…