Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another.
Henri Nouwen
The cost to the Crown of fighting claims by victims of abuse in state care is finally revealed before a Royal Commission. Aaron Smale calculates where most of the money went. Published on Newsroom Aaron Smale had been told by the Ministry of Social Development and Crown Law back in 2017 that it was too…
It is well established that children were physically and sexually abused in state care in New Zealand over many decades. But what has always been carefully hidden is the subsequent role of the Crown in deliberately, actively suppressing and stifling the bids for justice by survivors of those crimes. Published on Newsroom Aaron Smale reveals…
Allegations of sexual assault and grooming have been raised by former students against famed Kiwi composer, the late Jack Body. Published on Stuff Senior leaders at Victoria University of Wellington are reviewing the historical allegations that have been brought to light this month, after alumni of the university’s New Zealand School of Music were asked…
Senior Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu is suspected of paying A$1.14 million from Vatican funds to witnesses, to ensure the takedown of his bitter rival, Cardinal George Pell. Published on NZ Herald The allegedly corrupt cardinal wanted to ensure that Melbourne Supreme Court witnesses gave a hostile testimony in order to put Cardinal Pell behind…
Hundreds of sexual abuse victims who received meagre sums of money from the Catholic Church in exchange for their silence could now seek larger compensation payouts after a judge overturned one survivor’s settlement with the church. Published on The Age Australia That survivor, a former altar boy known as WCB, was paid $32,500 in 1996…
In an exclusive interview for TVNZ’s Sunday, Stan Walker bravely reveals to us the horrifying physical and sexual abuse he endured in his childhood family home in Tauranga. Published on TVNZ Stan has decided that it is time to bring his story out into the light, in the hope that it will encourage others with…
An advocate for victims of abuse in religious institutions says the Dilworth school case is unusual because the accused have ended up in court. Published in RNZ Six men in their 60s and 70s with historical links to the Anglican boys’ school in Auckland have been charged with indecent assault, sexual violation and drug supply.…
An Auckland boarding school has come forward to address historic allegations of sexual abuse against six of its former staff, saying it’s “cast a dark shadow” over the school. Published on NewsHub It comes after police charged six men who worked at Dilworth School over offences that took place across a number of decades. The…
The emergence of Covid-19 disrupted most aspects of life, creating a high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability about the future. Knowledge from a place of lived experience offers insights and strategies to better understand how to live, grow and thrive through the difficulties that people who experience mental health challenges, other disabling health conditions, people…
The revelations never end about priests and brothers, of monsignors and bishops with their secret sexual lives, masturbating, buggerizing, sodomizing and raping boys and girls – protected by an amoral hierarchy and a few corrupt members of the upper-echelons of various police forces. Published on Pearls and Irritations When will the swelling tide inside the…
The Victorian government has announced a review of laws preventing sexual assault survivors from speaking publicly about their experience, hours after a campaign to have them repealed was launched. Changes to the state’s Judicial Proceedings Reports Act introduced in February made it an offence for sexual assault survivors to publish their stories under their real…
Sexual assault victims at the secretive religious Gloriavale sect are made to meet with their abuser and forgive them – without police being notified. Gloriavale leaders then give offenders “second and third chances” to stop offending, along with more rounds of forgiveness and repentance meetings when they fail to stop, before leaders will consider kicking…