Saturday, December 7, 2024, 6:29 AM
BREAKING NEWS
**Donald Trump projected to become the 47th president of the United Stat. **We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly: Trump **We’re going to fix our borders and we’re going to fix everything about our country: Trump
Saturday, December 7, 2024, 6:29 AM
Home » New Zealand’s PM apologises to victims of abuse in church care

New Zealand’s PM apologises to victims of abuse in church care

200,000 vulnerable New Zealanders were abused in state care over decades, according to recent public inquiry

by NWMNewsDesk
0 comment

New Zealand’s prime minister on Tuesday delivered a historic apology to victims abused in state care, acknowledging the “unimaginable pain” suffered within children’s homes and psychiatric hospitals.

Some 200,000 vulnerable New Zealanders were abused in state care over decades, according to a recent public inquiry that described its findings as an “unthinkable national catastrophe”.

Church carers sexually abused children, mothers were forced to give up kids for adoption, and troublesome patients were strapped to beds for seizure-inducing electroconvulsive therapy.

banner

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday apologized on behalf of successive governments that ignored such harrowing reports.

“I am sorry you were not believed when you came forward to report your abuse,” he said in an address delivered to parliament.

“Some of you may feel my words count for little after so long and so much hurt.

“But I hope that today, with this apology and the acknowledgment of your burden, it becomes a little lighter for some of you.”

Luxon singled out the now-notorious Lake Alice psychiatric hospital in rural New Zealand, where patients recalled being unwittingly sterilized, used for unethical medical experiments, and punished with electric shocks.

“To those of you who were tortured at Lake Alice — young, alone, and subjected to unimaginable pain — I am deeply sorry.”

Many victims reported lingering trauma that has fuelled addiction and other problems.

The report found that some of the abuse was “overlaid with racism” targeting Indigenous Maori.

The inquiry was set up in 2018 and has made 233 recommendations that Luxon’s government has promised to consider

You may also like

Blogs

Latest Articles

© 2024 News World Media. All Rights Reserved.