Editorial: Gloriavale dissent and defence echoes of The Handmaid's Tale

EDITORIAL

For viewers of the screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale, the comparisons are inevitable.

To start with, women of Gloriavale wear headscarves and apparel resembling the characters of the fictional Netflix series in all-but colour - the television cast in gaudy red and our West Coast-based communers in more sedate eggshell and navy blues.

The material comparisons are understandable but Christian communities have long adopted similar attire and repressive philosophies. Atwood's descriptions simply reflect and enlarge upon the real thing for her dystopian thriller about a brutal new order.

While understanding the visual resemblance, it is important to divest Atwood's fiction from the reality beside the picturesque lake at Haupiri.

This past week, former members of Gloriavale testified at a Christchurch Employment Court hearing into the working conditions at the secluded community. Serenity Pilgrim, Pearl Valor, Anna Courage, Rose Standtrue, Crystal Loyal and Virginia Courage allege they were effectively born into and kept in "servitude" - illegal in New Zealand - forced to work long days with no breaks and very little food or water.

The women are seeking a ruling from the Employment Court that they were employees and not volunteers at Gloriavale. Their case follows a similar action by a group of former Gloriavale men who the court ruled were employees, some from when they were just 6 years old.

Gloriavale lawyer Phillip Skelton QC said the community's leadership rejected all claims of servitude and forced labour. He said the leavers were "embittered" and their accounts were "plainly untrue".

At least 49 witnesses will be called, including the leavers and their supporters and women who still live at Gloriavale.

Some of the testimonies so far about working 90 hours a week with few breaks under frequent tirades from community leaders, who were also described as "very creepy", are harrowing indeed.

Isaac Pilgrim's explanation of how women were expected to produce baby after baby and girls expected to decide on marriage soon after turning 16 is also anathema to most of us.

And all reminiscent of a novel.

But, as this case plays out, it's important to remember this is not entertainment. This is real life for New Zealanders.

It is also important to bear in mind that the beliefs of the Gloriavale leaders and community are not on trial. This is a court hearing to consider whether the duties the women performed constitute employment in the eyes of New Zealand law.

This matters because, if the women are successful in proving it is an employment situation then protections afforded to workplaces and workers can be enforced.

The current proceedings are expected to continue for more than a month.