A landmark report on abuse in state care was released today, revealing how New Zealand failed to protect vulnerable children.
Survivors, whose lives were deeply impacted by the abuse, gathered at Parliament to voice their concerns and witness the presentation of the Whanaketia report.
One of the primary issues highlighted by survivors is the urgent need for an overhaul of the current care system.
Some of the survivors gathered at Parliament today with many showing their aroha to each other, a love they seldom saw as children.
Kow can you apologise and put something on the table if you’re still allowing it to happen today?
— Kathleen Coster
Tu Chapman is a survivor of abuse in state care and was a part of the royal commission inquiry into state abuse and says the presenting of the report to the government is a momentous occasion.
“Kei te tino hīkaka te manawa, e pīrangi ana ahau ki te tangi. Heoi anō e rere nei ngā arohatanga ki ngā mōrehu katoa i tēnei rā.”
I’m so excited, I want to cry. But all of my love goes to all of the survivors today, she says.
What is the Whanaketia report?
The Whanaketia report is the final report from the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care and its title translates as through pain and trauma from darkness to light.
The report is comprehensive and includes 16 volumes of material that cover context, what happened, why it happened, specific case studies, survivor experiences and recommendations for the future.
Chapman says what the abuse survivors experienced is something the general public will not understand.
“Neke atu i te rima tau tēnei uiuinga matua kua kite nei i a tātou. Ko ngā āhuatanga, ko ngā kaupapa kua kite tātou i roto i tēnei uiuinga, he taumaha. Ko ngā tūkinotanga i roto i te atawhaitanga o te kāwanatanga me ngā whare o te whakapono, e kore nei te marea e kite nei i te katoa.”
For the past five years we have seen this report. Some of the things and experiences we saw in the report are heavy, to say the least. The abuse while under the care of the government and churches, the general public would have never seen.
Māori majority in state care
Today the Whanaketia report was presented to the government bearing a multitude of signatures and testimonies that survivors have experienced.
According to the Independent Children’s Monitor, nearly 70% of all children in state care of recent are identified as Māori.
Kathleen Coster, another survivor of abuse in state care, says a government apology leaves her feeling confused considering the continuous nature of abuse while in the care of the state.
“I struggle with it and the reason I struggle with it is because we’re looking at it historically but what about the agencies and what’s happening to our kids at the moment? Children being uplifted and disconnected from their families, boot camps, it’s another form of institutionalisation. So for me to think this report being tabled is going to be a good outcome, I really struggle with that because how can you apologise and put something on the table if you’re still allowing it to happen today?”
Tu Chapman also supports the statement at view.
“He kupu noa iho te tuku whakapāha ā waha. Me kite tātou i te hua o tēnei uiuinga. Koirā te mea nui ki a au. Kaua e kōrero mō te kore noa iho. Me tuku i te aroha i muri i tērā whakapāha ki ngā pārurenga.”
Apologising is only mere words. We want to see what comes from presenting the report. That’s the biggest thing to me. Don’t just talk for the sake of it. Compassion needs to be felt first before an apology to the victims.
The government is expected to give an official apology to victims and survivors of abuse in state care towards the end of the year.
However, Coster encourages the government to exercise compassion towards those who have been affected.
“Unless you’ve lived it, gone through it, experienced it, you’ll never get it. Have some compassion, have some compassion for our people and also have some compassion for our children because it would be quite different if we took your children and put them in these situations,” she says.