Lack of Pacific survivor participation key finding from NZ’s largest inquiry

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has found that Māori and Pacific survivors endured higher levels of physical abuse than other ethnicities.

Labelled as one of the largest and most complex inquiries in New Zealand’s history, the report heard from nearly 3000 experiences over 133 days of public hearings and was presented today in Parliament.

The report itself was 3000 pages long and weighed 14 kgs and is made up of 15 parts including five case studies.

Only 5 per cent of survivors who spoke out were Pacific which the Inquiry acknowledged its lack of engagement with the community.

Fear of speaking out

Many expressed their concern to disrupt the vā or cultural relationships between their families if they spoke up.

Ms CU, of Tongan descent, told the inquiry about her experience of reporting the abuse of her 15-year-old niece by Father Sateki Raass to NZ Police.

“A prominent Tongan leader told me that he had received a complaint about Sateki while he was working in Auckland. This leader took the complaint to a senior Tongan priest, who told him to take it to the Cardinal.

“He told me that he did that but nothing was done about it. It was about another young girl. It looks to me as though when the Church found out about the incidents involving Sateki and young women, they just shut it down and moved him on, shut it down and moved him on. If they had a process for dealing with this, they didn’t follow it.”

The report revealed that Pacific survivors in social welfare settings experienced the highest proportion of physical abuse for any ethnicity.

More than half who spoke to the Inquiry described being sexually abused while they were in social welfare care, 36 per cent of Pacific survivors who experienced disability or mental health setting experienced neglect, a higher proportion compared to other groups.

Lack of records on ethnicity data

The report also acknowledged its data gaps across all survivor groups which were particularly pronounced for Pacific peoples as they were often grouped with Māori or under the category, “Polynesian”.

Oranga Tamariki has acknowledged that data on ethnicity was not kept prior to 2001 as well as for the Ministry of Health.

Samoan survivor David Williams (aka John Williams) was put into the Ōwairaka Boys’ Home in Auckland in the 1970s and opened up about his experience.

“The racism was another thing. You had the white boys who were treated not too badly. Then you had the Māori who were treated like sh*t. But then if you were an Islander you were dog sh*t.

“They would step all over you. Staff used to tell me nobody wanted me and other things like ‘you’re useless, you should go and kill yourself.’ Don’t get me wrong, the Māori were treated like sh*t. But if you were underneath that, you were absolutely nothing.”

Racial discrimination towards Pacific people in State-care

The report highlighted the heightened State surveillance and racial discrimination particularly from NZ Police which increased the likelihood of Pacific children and young people entering State care.

Williams said, “I could be walking down the street and the police would just pick on me. I would be with two white fellas and if there were two of us darkies, the cops would pull us up and leave the white guys alone.

“That’s what it was like … it got to the stage where I think because I was being picked up so many times by the police and labelled a criminal, it became normal.”

Pacific scholarship recipients experienced abuse

An educational scholarship for students from Tokelau, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa saw recipients being placed in State-run social welfare residences or faith-based boarding schools.

A Tokelauan survivor who was a recipient of the scholarship came to New Zealand in 1981 at 12-years-old and spoke to the inquiry about his experience.

He was placed in the Anglican-run Sedgley Boys’ Home in Masterton while other scholarship students remained in Auckland.

The survivor spoke about experiences of racism, abuse by other boys and was unable to communicate due to his lack of English.

Experiences of conversion therapy among Pacific people in state care were also recorded with survivor Mr UB who opened up about his experience.

A snippet from Mr UB’s survivor experience, page 335, chapter 04

“When I was a pre‑schooler, my mother sexually assaulted me when she bathed, dressed or toileted me… My father is from Canterbury. My mother first came to New Zealand in the late 1950s as a Pacific Islands government secondary school scholarship recipient and she returned in the early 1970s on the visitor permit scheme.

“I identify as fakaleiti, mainly because many in my extended family used to refer to me that way. In terms of sexual orientation, I identify as a gay male.

“I decided to open up about my sexuality in 1997, at the age of 16. By this point, I was deeply frustrated. Inside I knew that my existence was at odds with everything around me. When I came out as gay, my mother was enraged. After 48 hours of her abuse, and with no intervention from my father, I decided to leave the family home.

“The church incident occurred because of gossip in the community about me coming out. One of the pastors led a prayer session in which church leaders laid hands on me and prayed for my ability to choose “the right path” in life.

“Afterwards, I was referred to a mental health professional based at Southland Hospital. I attended a counselling session where we discussed the incompatibility between being gay and the beliefs of the church. It wasn’t particularly condemnatory, but it was completely unsupportive.”

Similar incidents occurred at school for Mr UB where he was unable to represent his school at national competitions and was threatened to be expelled due to his sexuality.

He expressed his experiences still affecting him till this day with lack of trust including the inability to feel accepted by the Pasifika community.

“Community leaders, including religious leaders and politicians, must understand the implications of their words and actions.

“They must be held accountable for “standing up for the family” or “holding debate”. Institutions charged with care – like schools, community groups and churches – must proactively monitor the welfare and wellbeing of their participant”

Apology from the State

An apology has been confirmed to be made by the Prime Minister on the 12th of November upon recommendation from the Inquiry.

Recommendations included establishing a fund for projects that could facilitate other forms of collective redress, compensation for victims, better screening and vetting processes for staff and care workers and training to address prejudice and all forms of discrimination.

Also included are appropriate policies and procedures for state and faith-based entities to ensure complaint processes are suitable for Pacific people and a specialised Police unit dedicated to investigating and prosecuting those responsible for historical or current abuse and neglect in state care.