The abuse the man suffered as a 13-year-old has had a life-long impact. Illustration / Paul Slater
The abuse the man suffered as a 13-year-old has had a life-long impact. Illustration / Paul Slater
WARNING: This story contains graphic information about sexual & physical abuse.
A man abused repeatedly over a two-week period in a state-run boys’ home when he was 13 years old says the $26,500 he has been offered as settlement is “insulting”.
The 65-year-old, who the Herald agreed not to identify, still suffers with emotional trauma more than 50 years on and has only told his loved ones about what happened in the last few years.
“The two weeks seemed like two years to me,” he said.
“They hurt me, they raped me, they held me, I couldn’t move. I was crying all the time, and they didn’t care. They kicked me and they just told me to shut up.
“All of that stuff traumatises me and has done all my life. The trauma of the memories, I can’t really explain that part of it, how much it hurts to talk about that part of it.”
The Government will make a formal apology on November 12. It is yet to reveal its plans around financial compensation for survivors and whether those who have already settled would be able to seek further compensation under any new scheme.
Minister Erica Stanford, who is leading the Government’s response to the inquiry, said the abuse perpetrated on survivors was a “debt that can never be repaid” and for many, there was no amount of financial redress that could reflect what they suffered.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD), the agency who made the offer of settlement to the man, acknowledged claimants may disagree with their assessment and “reducing someone’s deeply personal experience to a dollar amount is inherently challenging”.
The ministry said existing redress agencies have continued to work with claimants and offers have been made as not all claimants want to wait for the future redress scheme.
Minister Erica Stanford during a press conference before the tabling of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care at Parliament in July. Photo / Mark Mitchell
‘I had my innocence taken away’
The man’s witness statement, and an offer of settlement letter sent to the man by his lawyers, were viewed by the Herald and make for sobering reading.
The then 13-year-old was sent to Ōwairaka Boys’ Home in Auckland in 1972 after he broke into a pub that was being built in South Auckland and stole building materials.
He says he was forcibly stripped when he arrived at the home and hosed down naked in an outdoor courtyard with water so forceful it knocked him over, cutting his back and knees.
“I think the staff enjoyed the shock of frightening me and others because they continued spraying you with the fire hose even if it had thrown you to the ground or you were clearly in distress,” he said in his witness statement.
After two days alone in a secure unit, he was put with the rest of the boys and was physically abused by the older residents.
“I got into a couple of fights with the other boys. They would punch me in the face and pull my hair. I got a fat lip a couple of times from these fights.
“The staff had put some of the older boys ‘in charge’. The boys in charge would throw things at me and lie to the staff that I had done something wrong so I would get in trouble.
“To punish me, staff would hit me around the back of the head and kick me up my bum and on my thighs while they were wearing military-style work boots.
“The staff treated me like a man, instead of a scared child.”
In his statement, the man detailed how he had hoped his father would “come and sort out the staff there, but he never visited me”.
The statement also details how the then 13-year-old was sexually abused every night of his two-week stay at the home, except for the two nights he spent at the secure unit.
“I got scared to sleep at night because I knew what was coming.
“Every night I was there, a staff member came and got me out of bed and took me to the shower blocks. It was always one of two men.
“In the shower block, one of the staff members I described would rape me each time. It was not always the same staff member. There was always at least one other boy. You could hear the screaming from the other boys being raped.
“I had my innocence taken away and lost my childhood at such a young age. I think about what I could have achieved if this had not happened in my life.”
On September 3 this year, 50 years after those horrific nights at the boys’ home, he was sent an offer of settlement from the MSD via his lawyers.
They were offering $26,500 plus payment of his legal fees.
“The settlement amount is preposterous, it’s very insulting to me, of all the years I’ve had to endure this.
“My main concern is that it seems to me like they’re just trying to fob us off as quickly as they possibly can with the cheapest way... and they don’t want to pay out any money.
MSD general manager of historic (sic) claims Linda Hrstich-Meyer says there was no timeframe on the offer and the man could take as long as he wished to consider it.
“We understand the process of seeking redress for abuse can be very difficult for survivors of abuse in care.
“Deciding whether or not to accept an offer from MSD ahead of the Government making decisions about the future redress scheme may be difficult.
“I acknowledge that reducing someone’s deeply personal experience to a dollar amount is inherently challenging. We know claimants may disagree with their assessment.”
Hrstich-Meyer said accepting an offer of redress from the MSD and signing a settlement agreement would not prevent a person from seeking any redress if ministers decided to make that available through the new scheme.
“All settlement agreements, continue to include a clause allowing a person to access the new redress scheme – subject to decisions to be made by Cabinet.”
Stanford said work around redress was being prioritised and initial decisions were expected to be made in the coming months.
“I acknowledge the Royal Commission process has spanned six years and survivors would like to see action. The recommendations around redress are complex and it’s important they are considered carefully.
“As a country, the abuse that was perpetuated on survivors by people who should never have been allowed to have children in their care is a debt that can never be repaid.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
