Abuse in care survivor feels 'powerfully acknowledged' as Presbyterians apologise
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Content warning: This story contains accounts of abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A survivor of abuse in state care said it “hits you out of the blue” hearing that you’re not the only person who experienced similar trauma.
“As you grow up, you wonder if what happened to you really happened because you're told constantly ‘it didn't happen, you've made it up, you're a naughty little person’,” said Paora Moyle in response to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Faith-Based Institutional Response public hearing on Wednesday.
Moyle went into Presbyterian care as a child and spent 14 years as a state ward, which is a “bloody long time”, they said.
“You become institutionalised. You become a part of the status quo.
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“And when you live inside an institutional setting that dictates your world experience, and that's very limited and that's controlled, you don't hope for much.”
Despite what they experienced in state care, Moyle is now passing on their knowledge as a community and social worker of nearly 30 years.
“The idea of going into social work was to do with tamariki, what I learned not to do through our experience of being in care,” Moyle said.
Presbyterian organisations respond
The chief executive of Presbyterian Support Central said he was “horrified and shocked” to hear of the abuse that took place at Berhampore Home which the organisation ran and the number of children who were allegedly abused there.
Muhammad Naseem (Joe) Asghar acknowledged the harm done to survivors and said Presbyterian Support Central was committed to learning from past mistakes.
Berhampore Home was run by Wellington Presbyterian Social Services Association (later renamed Presbyterian Support Central) from 1909 until it closed in 1985, with a change in focus from residential care for children to caring for the elderly and providing family support.
A number of survivors reported that, while in care from early 1960s to 1970s, they were abused, physically, sexually and emotionally by staff members and other children.
Although Presbyterian Support Central no longer runs children’s homes or looks after vulnerable people, it was committed to ensuring its reconciliation process didn’t re-traumatise survivors.
Asghar said he hoped the apology would help the survivors on their path to healing, and right any wrongs of the past if the survivors wished to do that.
Chief executive of Presbyterian Support Otago Jo O’Neill also apologised to survivors and said what happened at the children’s homes it ran was the “opposite of what should have resulted from the care provided by PSO”.
The royal commission heard evidence from survivor PN, who was molested, raped and sodomised on multiple occasions while in care at Glendinning Home in Dunedin, which was run by Otago Presbyterian Social Service Association at the time.
Survivor PN was “passed around” a ring of paedophiles who were parishioners of the local Presbyterian church, and often abused when she visited them for meals or after church services. O’Neill called it “abhorrent”.
From 1950 until the last of Presbyterian Support Otago children’s homes closed in 1991, there was no reporting system in place for the board or management to monitor children's care or accusations of abuse at the children's home.
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O’Neill said there was now a complaints policy and procedure for the organisation, which all complaints progress through and which ensured each individual was treated with respect and care, and all complaints were discussed at governance level.
She said the organisation was committed to engaging with survivors in any way that worked for them.
Assembly executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand Wayne Matheson said he was “deeply sorry” to those affected by the abuse the church inflicted.
The organisation had sought to change its policies and procedures, saying its approaches were unfair and unsafe. It welcomed the work of the royal commission in this ongoing process.
“We have worked to reach out to those affected to offer a sincere apology, pastoral care and support,” Matheson said.
For Moyle, hearing representatives of Presbyterian organisations make apologies was “powerfully acknowledging” as a survivor.
“You can never get your life back,” Moyle said. “But there are accountabilities and acknowledgements that [institutions] can make.”
Moyle said there had to be a Te Tiriti o Waitangi process for survivors moving forward as well.
“Te Tiriti is for everybody. That's about the relationship, and it can't always be a one-size-fits-all. It has to acknowledge a bicultural approach that is survivor-led with whānau. That's that's the space that I missed most,” they said.
“I came from a long line of whānau, I am representative of all of my tīpuna before me. It's a very important part of healing.”
Where to get help for sexual violence
Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00, click link for local helplines.
Victim Support 0800 842 846.
Safetalk text 4334, webchat safetotalk.nz or email support@safetotalk.nz.
The Harbour Online support and information for people affected by sexual abuse.
Women’s Refuge 0800 733 843
Male Survivors Aotearoa Helplines across NZ, click to find out more (males only).
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 111.
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