News & Events

Abuse of children at Marylands School in Christchurch was so rife it was described as a state-supported, church-run brothel for paedophiles. But so far the spotlight has focused on a handful of individual abusers. An inquiry this week tried to find out how deep the rot went. Alan Nixon nearly had to burn a church…

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…