New Zealand report finds 200,000 abuse victims in care of state, faith-based groups

The Catholic Church and Jehovah's Witnesses were singled out in the damning report

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On Wednesday, New Zealand released a 3,000-page report detailing the results of a six-year investigation completed by the Abuse in Care Royal Commission into the abuse of children and vulnerable adults. The takeaways are devastating. And, as you might guess, religion is a huge part of the problem.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after the release of the report (via ABC)

"This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand's history as a society and as a state, we should have done better, and I am determined that we will do so," Mr Luxon told a news conference after its release.

In short, the report found that about 200,000 people were abused over the course of seven decades. (That’s in a country with a current population of only 5 million.) Many of the organizations—both state-run and religious—got away with it because of an overwhelming lack of oversight.

The results were a “national disgrace,” the inquiry’s report said. Of 650,000 children and vulnerable adults in state, foster, and church care between 1950 and 2019… nearly a third endured physical, sexual, verbal or psychological abuse. Many more were exploited or neglected, the report said. The figures were likely higher, though precise numbers would never be known because complaints were disregarded and records were lost or destroyed.

“These gross violations occurred at the same time as Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country in which to grow up as a child in a loving family,” the inquiry heads wrote, using both the Māori and English names for the country.

The report also found that the “average cost of abuse” for survivors amounted to about $857,000 ($508,000 in USD), including health care, suffering, opportunity costs, and premature death.

While the government will be offering a formal apology in November, it’s not clear which, if any, of the 138 recommendations for moving forward they will adopt—including payments to survivors.

In the meantime, though, we can look at what the report found regarding the larger religious groups, like the Catholic Church:

The report singled out churches — particularly the Catholic Church — as failing to address or prevent abuse. As many as 42% of those in faith-based care by all denominations were abused, according to a report produced for the inquiry. The Catholic Church said in a 2020 briefing to the commission that accusations had been made against 14% of its New Zealand clergy during the time covered by the inquiry.

When allegations are made against 14% of a workforce, there’s no way to blame a couple of rogue members. The problem in the Catholic Church is systemic. Consider the fact that, according to the report, several priests who were convicted of sexual abuse were sent by the Church to Australia or Papua New Guinea. They were allowed to start fresh in a place where their crimes weren’t known.

[Royal Commission advisor Arrun Soma] also said faith-based institutions should “exit the business of care and in their pastoral care adopt national standards and transparent complaint processes.”

“In faith-based institutions, leaders providing pastoral care reflect the diversity of their communities and expression of that diversity is welcomed,” he added. “Faith community members are free to choose partners, seek appropriate health care and have no fear of being shunned.”

Church officials said they were reviewing the report and would issue a response after they were done. (Don’t hold your breath.)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses didn’t fare much better. In fact, the JWs actually went to court to prevent the section about them from being made public, but they lost that battle. The resulting 64-page case study into that one group is a troubling read.

It blames, among other things, the power held by Elders, “high barriers” when it came to disclosing abuse, “the inferior position of women within the faith,” the fear of being disfellowshipped, horrible record-keeping, and the existence of the “Two-Witness rule” (which says church elders shouldn’t take a victim’s account of abuse seriously unless another person witnessed it… even though the only other person around may have been the abuser himself).

Perhaps the most damning passage in the report is this one which says the JWs defended their actions by insisting they never took care of children:

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ approach to this Inquiry and to its activities was premised on the basis that no children or young people were ever in its care. The ongoing failure of the faith to recognise that children and young people were in its care gives the Inquiry concern about the faith’s overall approach to the safety of children and young people in its care during the Inquiry period.

The JWs acted like, since they didn’t run a formal daycare, they couldn’t be blamed for what happened to children under their watch. The Commission was right to call out that kind of negligence. Just consider what the JWs did to Jasmine Grew, one woman who went on record and spoke with authorities about how her religious leaders handled her own account of abuse:

Jasmine Grew told the Inquiry that she had disclosed abuse to her mother in 1989, when she was 12 years old. Her mother told the Elders of her congregation “as she was expected” to do. Soon after at a faith meeting, an Elder came up to Jasmine and said “we’d like to speak to you in the back room”:

“I went back into the back room and the elders (male) were there. I had no support, no friend, no mother, nothing. My mother did not know, at the time, what was happening.”

…

Jasmine Grew said, “They put the blame on me. They said I was wearing seductive clothing. I was aged from five to eight years old at the time [he] was sexually abusing me.”

…

“… The elders interrogated me. They were asking the worst questions you can imagine, for someone who was just 12 years old. They asked me, ‘Was it hard,’ referring to my abuser physically. They wanted to know everything. Their questions were inappropriate. At that age it was a terrifying experience for me. It seemed as abusive as the sexual abuse itself ... I was honest, and I told them everything because I had to be honest. I was fearful of the consequences of Armageddon.”

Her story seems sadly typical. JW leaders took care of abuse by talking to minors without their parents present, then used religious threats to get them to keep quiet. It worked. The abuse remained a secret for years if not decades.

The Inquiry has not seen any evidence of the Jehovah’s Witnesses referring sexual abuse allegations to police during the Inquiry period in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is consistent with Inquiry findings in Australia and the United Kingdom.

The 364-page “Future” section offers recommendations regarding how to move forward. When it comes to the religious institutions, the options are limited… but the document calls on various religious leaders—including the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Governing Body of JWs—to issue formal apologies.

I don’t know who would benefit from such an apology but it would at least acknowledge those institutions’ roles in facilitating the abuse. Right now, many of them are just trying to wipe their hands clean of all of it. In addition to the apologies, the faith-based groups were asked to consider working with an agency dedicated to safety or oversight bodies… but there’s no punishment if they don’t.

That’s why, more than anything, it’s the public shaming that may have a greater effect on the institutions than anything else. People should know their families may not be safe in a faith-based group and that those leaders have a long-standing habit of denying abuse exists. Better to avoid religious groups entirely than put your kids at risk.

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