Traumatic, long path to change
For five long years, survivors of abuse at the hands of Dunedin clergy have waited to see if a reminder of the city’s dark past would be removed. The news that they had succeeded was greeted with relief, but the…
News
“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”
– Henry Nouwen
One in six Australian university students say they have been sexually harassed. How can this be stopped?
Australian university students have shared harrowing stories of sexual harassment and assault in a damning new report that shows the prevalence of these incidents at institutions across the country. In what was labelled a “difficult day” for the university sector,…
Kavanagh College to be renamed
Dunedin’s Kavanagh College will be renamed after an investigation found its namesake failed to take appropriate action over claims of abuse. The school will become Trinity Catholic College from January 1, 2023, the Bishop of Dunedin saying the church had…
Abuse in care: Māori survivors faced ‘significant racism, torture’
Māori survivors of abuse in care want urgent change to Aotearoa’s care and protection system, which has seen whānau suffer significant racism, torture, slave labour and disconnection from whakapapa, an inquiry has heard. For the past two weeks, ngā mōrehu…
Embracing Māoritanga helping state care abuse survivors heal
Māori abused in state care have spoken about the violent environments they were placed in as children, and how embracing their Māoritanga, their cultural identity, has helped them on their healing journey. Friday was the fifth day in a hearing…
Marylands School abuse: How a tiny religious order in Christchurch became an outsized scandal
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…
Church fixer’s damning revelations: 21 out of 23 St John of God brothers faced allegations of physical or sexual abuse
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;…
Abuse ‘disproportionate’
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…
Catholic Church in New Zealand discovers 14 per cent of clergy accused of abuse, with Cardinal describing findings as ‘horrifying’
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…
Corrections criticised on sex assaults in prison
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…
Government reveals 25-year plan to tackle family and sexual violence
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…
‘Why didn’t you scream?’: Child sex abuse complainants face victim blaming, badgering in court
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…