"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
More children in care are reporting they’ve been physically, emotionally or sexually harmed, while government agencies play hot potato with vulnerable kids. Just months after the Prime Minister apologised to those who were abused in state and faith-based care, independent…
Almost one in 10 tamariki and rangatahi are being abused or neglected in state care, a report by the Independent Children’s Monitor has found. Between July 2023 and June last year, 507 of 5722 children were abused or neglected while…
A group of abuse survivors, accompanied by two horses, have marched into Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) offices in Christchurch. Among the protesters’ demands is that ACC reforms eligibility for coverage for abuse survivors, immediate redress and an end to government’s…
NZ research on the support needs of male survivors identifies three key issues – lack of awareness of male survivors, the need to clarify formal support services and the need for a diverse range of support modalities The sexual abuse and assault of…
Large research scoping study leaves no doubt about the benefits of peer support in supporting the recovery of young people suffering from mental health conditions. Peer support has increasingly been integrated into youth mental health programs globally. Peer support workers…
Abuse in care survivors are outraged after senior ministers suggested lowering expectations on government commitments. Abuse survivors Ken Clearwater and Tu Chapman spoke to Corin Dann. Listen to report
Solitary confinement destroys people, but New Zealand continues to inflict it on our most vulnerable and damaged people, including children, as a matter of course. Aaron Smale reports on the practice that won’t go away and the people that are…
For me the most powerful words were virtually unintelligible. Gary Williams is severely disabled and in a wheelchair, but that did not limit the power of his words, which were flashed up on a screen behind him. He was the…
Survivors of abuse in care arrived at Parliament today to hear the formal apology from the state which oversaw and inflicted harm on children. Public sector leaders from Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police, and Ministry of Education also…
It “is a significant, sorrowful but important day” for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said in his formal apology to abuse victims at Parliament. Survivors around the country gathered and tuned in to proceedings at Parliament, where a ballot-selected group…
As we drew closer to the date of the public apology, the response minister Erica Stanford began preparing abuse victims for disappointment. It’s clear that redress will not accompany the national apology tomorrow. There are a number of “extraordinarily complex decisions” yet…
Luxon surprised a number of people, myself included, when the Royal Commission’s final report was tabled in July by acknowledging that the abuse suffered by hundreds of children at the Lake Alice adolescent unit in the 1970s was torture. And…
