‘From Darkness to Light’

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An inquiry concluded Wednesday that over the last 70 years, one in three people receiving care in New Zealand – including children and people with disabilities – was abused, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Christopher Luton acknowledged more than 2,300 survivors who contributed to the probe. He apologized and promised to implement reforms following the report’s recommendations.

“This is a dark and sorrowful day in New Zealand’s history as a society and as a state,” Luton said, adding that he will offer an official apology on Nov. 12.

The “Whanaketia – Through Pain and Trauma, from Darkness to Light” report delivered the findings of a six-year inquiry, the largest and most expensive ever held in New Zealand, 1News reported.

From 1950 to 2019, around 200,000 people were abused in care facilities belonging to the state or the clergy. The atrocities they suffered included physical and verbal abuse, rape, sterilization, and electric shocks.

The inquiry noted that children in foster care had been the most exposed to sexual abuse, the BBC reported. Indigenous Māoris and people with mental or physical disabilities were also highly vulnerable.

For decades, New Zealand has failed to deliver justice to the victims, many of whom have died since, as civil and religious leaders denied allegations and covered up abuse by moving perpetrators to other locations.

The report called it a “national disgrace.”

It issued 138 recommendations, including official apologies from the government and faith leaders.

“We will ensure that action follows our review of the inquiry’s findings,” the Catholic Church in New Zealand said. The Anglican Church took “full responsibility for our failures.”

Following the report’s recommendations, Luton promised reforms, while the opposition vowed to cooperate with the government.

The report also called for compensation amounting to $511,200 per survivor, many times the size of payments so far and which have been a fraction of those paid out in other countries, as well as payments for the descendants of victims because of the intergenerational trauma they carried on.

Luton said the total amount could be in the billions of dollars.

New Zealand’s inquiry is the latest in a series of probes into systemic abuse spanning two decades. Australia, Canada, the United States, England and Wales also led similar investigations, the Associated Press noted.