News & Events
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
One-third of childhood sexual abuse is perpetrated by another child. Shannon Molloy tells his story – and urges us not to look away
Journalist Shannon Molloy is used to sharing his story. In his 2020 memoir, Fourteen (now adapted for the stage), he wrote about growing up gay in regional Queensland in the 1990s, enduring severe bullying. He wrote in a piece that sparked the memoir: I was bashed, ridiculed, taunted endlessly, you name it. I was almost run over. At a […]
State of denial: How police child abuse inquiries ran aground
In part two of a series on Crown Law withholding evidence from police Aaron Smale asks: how did the government and its lawyers behave when they knew the state was guilty of serious crimes against children? Under oath in front of a Royal Commission the Crown’s top lawyer had nowhere to go. Solicitor General Una […]
Male survivors of sexual violence and abuse (SVA): Barriers and facilitators to reporting and accessing services
Sexual violence and abuse (SVA) is most typically presented as a gender-based problem due to the higher prevalence and incidence rates recorded for women. This has led to male victimisation being overlooked in research, practice and policy, despite international statistics demonstrating that a significant number of men experience SVA across their lifespan. In this research […]
Women’s Refuge comes to aid of group dealing with violent men
On Christmas Day last year, men’s welfare worker Philip Chapman decided he had had enough dealing with police safety orders. The director of Nelson’s Male Room had spent six years sorting out a place to live and counselling for men who had been told to leave the family household because of incidents of family violence. […]
Dilworth School sex abuse: Former teacher Robert Wynyard, 74, sentenced to prison
A 74-year-old former Dilworth teacher and housemaster has been sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for historic sexual abuse of students in the early 1980s, as well as abuse of children after his tenure at the Auckland boarding school. Robert Howard Gladwin Wynyard used a cane for support as he stood before Justice […]
Flood news ‘silver lining’ for school: principal
A leaked email has revealed a Dunedin principal said a silver lining to the deadly Auckland floods was keeping a story about her school off the front page. A pre-dawn blessing was held at Trinity Catholic College on January 28, to mark a new era for the school after changing its name from Kavanagh College. […]
A new dawn and new era for college
As a new day dawned over Trinity Catholic College, it was hoped the first rays of light also marked the start of a new chapter for the troubled Dunedin high school. About 20 pupils, survivors of sexual abuse, and members of the community gathered at the school at 5am on Saturday for a blessing to […]
Blessing of school to mark new beginnings
A blessing is set to signal the start of a new chapter at a Dunedin school with a dark past. The Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, Bishop Michael Dooley, will perform a pre-dawn blessing of the renamed Trinity Catholic College this Saturday, accompanied by the college kaumatua. The former Kavanagh College became Trinity Catholic College on […]
Waihi dad shares story of sexual violence with other Bay survivors
Thirty years on from the first time he was raped, Sam Troth regularly wakes up at night crying and with cold sweats. But after three years of counselling, the Waihi father of six is more than halfway through his mission of walking across New Zealand encouraging other men to speak about sexual violence. Troth, 39, […]
Exploring male childhood sexual abuse survivors’ experiences of specialist counselling services
Global estimates suggest 5% to 10% of men report experience of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, male CSA is significantly underreported, with men being reluctant to disclose due to vulnerability, stigmatisation, homophobic responses and fearing a loss of masculinity. A lack of research and service provision targeted towards men suggests male survivors of CSA are […]
Male Survivors Aotearoa publishes part one of a research study on effective support services for male suriviors of sexual violence
Male Survivors Aotearoa publishes part one of a research study on effective support services for male suriviors of sexual violence. “Living or merely existing” The experiences of male surivors of historical sexual abuse in Aotearoa New Zealand. Part two is expected to be published by mid 2023 Download PDF
Sexual violence against males common, but still taboo says survivor
The journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga is long – almost three million steps – but the road to healing from sexual abuse has felt a lot longer for a father of six who was raped over a period of several years by a family friend. Sam Troth has embarked on a solo walk from […]