Former Gloriavale resident describes culture of bullying and mocking inside the community

By Kaysha Brownlie | Newshub |

A former Gloriavale resident has told the Employment Court in Christchurch there was a culture of bullying and mocking inside the community.

Virginia Courage is one of six women fighting to prove they were employees rather than volunteers at the commune.

Courage’s life outside the isolated West Coast community is so different to how it had been on the inside.

“Bullying and mocking people in Gloriavale is such a part of the culture. I was a part of it when I was there, you are desensitised to it and you don’t realise how wrong it is,” she said in court.

During cross-examination, she said it was a life of being controlled by men.

“When I was a child Hopeful decided what colour our underwear was, what style it was, it was all decided day-to-day by these people. The systems have been going for decades.”

Systems like one around washing.

“When I was single Hopeful got with Miracle and wrote out a list of how much washing people should put out into the laundry and how often you should change your clothes so there wasn’t too much washing to wash. I would call that a Gloriavale system,” she said.

Further reading and video link: Former Gloriavale resident describes culture of bullying and mocking inside the community