Guardian

‘National disgrace’: landmark New Zealand report finds 200,000 victims of abuse in state care

New Zealand enquiry finds 200,000 children and vulnerable adults abused in care, leader says ‘we should have done better’

Independent

Landmark investigation finds 200,000 people in care institutions were abused in New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologized on Wednesday after a public inquiry found some 200K children and vulnerable adults suffered some form of abuse while in state and religious care over the last 70 years.

Reuters

According to the Royal Commission of Inquiry, nearly a third of 650K children and vulnerable adults in state, foster, and church care between 1950 and 2019 experienced physical, sexual, verbal, or psychological abuse, while others were exploited or neglected.

FOX News

In its report, the Commission — which interviewed over 2.3K survivors of abuse — said that sexual abuse was "commonplace," while physical abuse was "prevalent across all settings."

Al Jazeera

In addition, people from disadvantaged or marginalized communities, including Māori and Pacific people or people with disabilities, were particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

While the Commission said the scale of the abuse was "unimaginable," it alleged that the culprits rarely faced the consequences for their actions, which they covered up by transferring the abusers.

ABC News

Luxon said the inquiry's findings — which cost the government about NZ$170M ($101M) — marked a "dark and sorrowful day" in the country's history. An official apology will follow on Nov. 12.

New Zealand: Inquiry Finds Over 200K Abused in State Care

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New Zealand: Inquiry Finds Over 200K Abused in State Care

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