Target: Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Goal: Demand financial compensation and mental health aid for victims of abuse in state-run hospitals and orphanages.
Over 250,000 children and minors suffered years of abuse at the hands of hospital and orphanage staff members, according to a report released by New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry. The children, who ranged in age between nine months and 17 years, were placed in psychiatric facilities, care homes, and religiously-affiliated orphanages and hospitals from the 1960s to the early 21st century. There, many were subjected to sexual assault, rape, torture, and racial and verbal abuse from the staff entrusted with their care.
Particularly vulnerable were children from New Zealand’s Indigenous Māori groups. The Commission found that as much as 81% of the victims were Māori, who were targeted by clergy and other staff in an effort to strip them of their cultural identity through systematic abuse.
While the Commission has proven that these violations occurred, and New Zealand’s government has expressed its sorrow, the survivors of this legacy of abuse deserve to be offered assistance to cope with the aftermath. Sign the petition below to demand that Prime Minister Ardern pledge her government’s help to all in need of it.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Prime Minister,
The findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry reveal a disturbing and tragic history of abuse aimed at New Zealand’s most vulnerable citizens. For decades, children entrusted to the care of religious institutions and the state were violated and betrayed by those whom they should have been able to trust, suffering physical, emotional, and mental abuse on a shocking scale.
Your government has finally taken action on unveiling the extent of this program of betrayal, but the survivors will not benefit from apologies alone. I urge you to respond to the Commission’s final report with an open offer of unconditional financial and medical assistance to all survivors of abuse in care facilities.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Newzild
379 Signatures