A Dunedin boy dumped at a Catholic orphanage by his father endured five days of violence at the hands of the Sisters of Mercy. Half a century later, he is still searching for answers. Chris Morris reports.
Published in Otago Daily Times
You have heard of the #MeToo movement. But have you heard of the #MenToo movement? Little is known about male trauma and Dr. Debra Warner explains that men are also suffering sexual assault. Dr. Debra Warner is a leading forensic psychologist, trauma expert, author, and speaker who specializes in male trauma. She is the spouse of a male survivor and authored “His History, Her Story, a Survival Guide for Spouses of Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma.” She has devoted her professional efforts to helping men and their loved ones confront and conquer their long term effects of trauma on the male psyche. She frequently addresses issues related to the #MenToo movement, challenges masculinity stereotypes, and works to dismantle stigmas related to male trauma. She currently is a professor at the Los Angeles campus of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Psy.D. in Clinical Forensic Psychology, and a sought-out expert witness, psychological evaluator, and consultant. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Hundreds of sex offenders are being placed in shared prison cells despite warnings that it is dangerous and should be stopped.
Figures from Corrections show that in October this year there were 674 double bunked inmates who had a previous or current sex offence.
Published in Otago Daily Times
Lawyers appealing former archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson’s conviction for covering up child abuse have argued that convincing a child to perform a sex act did not constitute indecent assault in the 1970s.
Published in ABC News
According to dominant stereotypes, men can’t be sexually assaulted by women. But according to a wide-ranging study, around two-thirds of men who report sexual victimization say their assailant was female.
Published in Broadley
More survivors of clerical sex abuse are coming forward after Catholic school Old Boys formed an online support network as the Church continues stonewalling over the extent of sexual predation.
Published in Radio NZ
Scouts New Zealand and other groups say they are disappointed that victims of abuse in their communities won’t be heard by the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse.
Published in Radio NZ
The inclusion of religious institutions into a state abuse inquiry has been welcomed by those who work with male survivors of sexual abuse.
A Royal Commission into the historical abuse of children in state care, from 1950-1999, has been in a preliminary process since February. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Children’s Minister Tracey Martin announced on Monday that Cabinet had agreed to expand the commission’s remit to investigate abuse in church institutions after months of resistance.
Male Survivors Aotearoa chairman Phillip Chapman was one of those who made an submission that the inquiry be widened to include other organisations like churches, schools and sports clubs. While it could have gone further, he said the inclusion of churches and faith-based organisations was “good news”.
But he did hold concerns about how the inquiry would be managed, as there were few support services for male survivors.
Published in Stuff
A spokesperson for survivors of abuse in faith-based institutions says extending the inquiry scope will strengthen voices not diminish them. Some Māori abused in state care say they will be silenced in the government inquiry now it’s including abuse by the churches. Survivors say expanding the inquiry will water it down, and those abused by the state should be dealt with on their own. Doctor Murray Heasley of Ngāti Raukawa, is the spokesperson for a network of survivors of abuse in faith based institutions.
Published in Radio New Zealand
14 November 2018
The Catholic bishop of Dunedin says he may not wait for a royal commission before lifting the lid on the sexual abuse of children by men of the cloth within the diocese.
Bishop Michael Dooley told ODT Insight he was considering a public “full disclosure” based on diocesan records of complaints alleging clergy abuse of children.
That would include naming alleged offenders and revealing the numbers of victims involved and payouts made within the Dunedin diocese, where complaints were deemed “credible” and church records existed.
Published in Otago Daily Times
An apology is needed for people who have been abused in state and church care, according to a group that supports survivors of sexual abuse.
Leo McIntyre, spokesman for The Road Forward Trust, which offers peer support to male survivors of sexual abuse, welcomed the Government’s decision to expand the terms of reference of an inquiry into the abuse of children in state care to include faith-based organisations.
That includes religious schools such as Catholic schools and communities such as the Gloriavale Christian community on the West Coast. Under the Inquiries Act they could be compelled to appear at hearings.
“I think this will be of benefit to people who thought they were going to be excluded previously,” McIntyre told the Herald.
Published in New Zealand Herald
A Wellington Catholic college says it has no records of sex abuse committed by a priest against boys.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Ribbons put on a Wellington church by child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters have been promptly taken down by the parish priest.
The ribbons were tied to the fence of the St Mary of the Angels Catholic church in Boulcott St on Thursday, but by Friday morning, they had been removed.
They were put up to acknowledge historic sexual abuse of children in the Wellington Diocese, particularly at St Patrick’s College in Silverstream and Wellington City, and St Bernard’s College in Lower Hutt.
Published in Stuff
A Wellington priest has backed down and agreed to allow ribbons from the survivors of sexual abuse to adorn a church in the capital.
Fr Kevin Conroy, the Marist Fathers parish priest at St Mary of the Angels in Wellington, caused outrage this morning when he cut off ribbons left on the church gates by survivors of clerical sexual abuse.
About 50 ribbons, signed by victims and their supporters, had been tied to church gates on Thursday, but cut down early this morning by Fr Conroy.
Published in Otago Daily Times
Priests from across Otago and Southland gathered in Dunedin yesterday as part of a push to upskill clergy in response to a sexual abuse crisis engulfing the Catholic Church.
About 30 priests from across the Dunedin Diocese – which spans the lower third of the South Island – attended an all-day seminar at the Holy Cross Centre in Mosgiel.
Speakers included Virginia Noonan, director of the Catholic Church in New Zealand’s National Office of Professional Standards, which handles sexual abuse complaints involving clergy.
Published in Otago Daily Times