A woman on a bench in a park in the capital of Wellington, New Zealand, struggles to hold back tears. She has just told her two sons about the bad things that happened when she was little. – It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. I saw their pain when I told them, says Frances Tagaloa. – The teacher was popular. The sexual abuse happened regularly from the time she was five to seven years old. – The teacher was popular. Unfortunately, he was also a pedophile, says the woman. She attended a Catholic boarding school growing up. – I tried to suppress the pain, but kept having “flashbacks”. She cannot get rid of the bad memories. Contrast. In an idyllic park by a playground, Frances Tagaloa talks about her painful childhood. Photo: screenshot / Reuters Frances Tagaloa is one of 2,300 abuse victims who have told their stories to a commission of inquiry. They, the victims of abuse, will not be silent any longer. On Wednesday they took part in a march through the center of Wellington and to the National Assembly. Rape, forced sterilization and electroshock A report was presented which shows that a shocking 200,000 children have been exposed to abuse from 1950 to 2020. – This is the start of a journey, the start of being healed. That’s what Cathrine Daniel says, one of the many who took part in the procession. The assaults took the form of rape, forced sterilization and the use of electric shocks. Frances Tagaloa is brought to tears when she talks about how painful it was to tell her sons about the bad things that happened when she was little. Photo: screenshot / Reuters It has happened in state schools and orphanages, as well as in boarding schools and other institutions run by the Anglican and Catholic churches. Nuns hit with belts Anna Thompson is one of the abuse victims. She told the commission of inquiry about nuns who beat her with a belt at night. – The buckle on the belt cut into the skin so that I bled. I had trouble sitting because of the cuts on my back, Thompson said. Jesse Kett, for his part, told how he was raped and beaten. It happened at a state boarding school when he was 8 years old. – Sometimes the abuser was alone. At other times, individual employees watched the abuse, Kett said during the hearing conducted by the commission of inquiry. The scale shocks not only New Zealanders, but far beyond the country’s borders. More transparency with Pope Francis The Catholic Church in Norway is also reacting, but does not know the details of the report. Nun Karolina Terezie Bogoczova in the Catholic Church in Norway. Photo: private Nun Karolina Bogozova or “Sister Karolina” as she is called – is a prevention advisor in the Catholic Church in Norway. – According to the report, abuse has been a major social problem in New Zealand. The details almost have to be answered by the state, the Anglican and the Catholic Church in New Zealand. But let me say that each and every abuse is one too many, says the nun. “Sister Karolina” believes that there has become a completely different openness within the Catholic Church. – The Catholic Church is no longer silent about the abuses. We take several measures to prevent abuse both globally and nationally. The last two popes, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, stand for a line of openness. – If I remember correctly, as late as 2022, Pope Francis repeated that a priest cannot continue to be a priest if he is an abuser. So it is very important to stress that there is now zero tolerance for abuse in the Catholic Church. “Sister Karolina” says there have been no cases of abuse in this country in recent years. As elsewhere in society, suspicions of abuse are reported to the police. – Dark and sad day Toni Jarvis is one of the many who have told about abuse to the commission in New Zealand. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: Brett Phibbs / AP – For a long time they didn’t believe us, they thought we made up the stories we came up with, he says. Now they are believed. – This is a dark and sad day in our country’s history, said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Wednesday. It has been painful to talk about the past, but important to contribute, says Frances Tagaloa, who is interviewed by Reuters on the park bench in Wellington. A large number of victims are from the indigenous Maori population. The common denominator is that they were young, vulnerable and terrified. – The state and denominations have failed you, said Prime Minister Luxon this week. Abuse victims in New Zealand will have to wait until November 12 before receiving a formal apology and financial compensation from the government in Wellington. Published 27/07/2024, at 13.16
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Abuse scandal shakes New Zealand – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
