Gloriavale abuse survivors angry at being sidelined over plans to make community safer
A victim of abuse at Gloriavale has criticised the Government for sidelining survivors when drawing up a plan to keep children at the Christian community safe and ensure such travesties never happen again.
Earlier this year the Government and Gloriavale signed a formal plan to ensure the safety of Gloriavale members in the wake of years of abuse and court cases.
The Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust welcomed the plan’s intent, but said it lacked detail and was neither led by nor informed by survivors.
Trust manager Liz Gregory said those who had shared their harrowing experiences should now have the opportunity to help shape the solutions to the underlying problems.
One leaver, who experienced sexual abuse in the community and did not want to be named, said she was “so disappointed” at what had been agreed.
“Who are the experts advising the Government? They are looking through a very small lens. It will be ineffective and will create just more bits of paper,” she said.
On Thursday it emerged that Gloriavale’s school had failed a new review by the Education Review Office, which found it was physically and emotionally unsafe for students – and that Gloriavale leaders had withheld information from the review office.
The failure prompted the Ministry of Education to file a court application to close the school. The ministry had already decided to cancel Gloriavale Christian School’s registration, which is being challenged via judicial review next month.
The safety plan was developed in response to a recommendation by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care that the Government should “take all practicable steps to ensure the ongoing safety of children, young people, and adults in care at Gloriavale”.
The inquiry found the Overseeing Shepherd and senior leaders at fault for allowing physical and sexual abuse to happen, failing to protect survivors, for allowing offenders to remain in the community and continue abusing while seeking forgiveness from victims, and not reporting abuse to police.
The plan, released under the Official Information Act, was signed on May 6 by a government official and the now Overseeing Shepherd, Stephen Standfast.
The leaver said the Government had not talked to survivors who testified at the inquiry when drawing up the plan.
“It’s not the Government that has brought insight or has shone the light on the serious harm and failings. It’s the leavers,” she said.
“Why does the Government think they can put us to the side and leave us out of this process? We’re part of it. We’re the ones that said there’s something seriously wrong here.”
The woman said she left the community because she believed it was the only way to keep her children safe from the cycle of abuse.
She said Government agencies also needed to work directly with parents in Gloriavale, not just its leadership.
The plan sets targets, including all children having annual oral health consultations, 80% of students aged six to 16 attending school for more than 90% of the term – which is the same target as those in mainstream schools – and 85% of 18-year-olds achieving NCEA level 2 or equivalent.
It also requires the community to comply with New Zealand laws, protect individual rights, including the right to leave, and to improve access to health services.
The Government will establish a multi-disciplinary team, including a lead clinician, to provide oversight. Standfast is expected to appoint an independent welfare co-ordinator, improve access to services, and develop a plan to upgrade living conditions.
The plan says all incidents of harm should be reported and the Government could measure whether community members were free from coercion, slavery or trafficking by having no new community-reported concerns of coercion or police or Worksafe prosecutions.
It also calls for independent audits of community businesses, trusts, homes and hostels, and includes protections for women, including fair and equal remuneration and opportunities for leadership.
Maree Roberts, from the Ministry of Social Development, said agencies had been working with the community to meet the outcomes together, and a delivery and monitoring plan was being finalised to help the community meet the agreed measures.
“Clear, measurable outcomes have been drawn up so that everyone is agreed on what needs to happen and what progress looks like,” she said.
National MP Louise Upston, the minister responsible for the Royal Commission’s recommendation, said the Government was “committed” to the response.
“The welfare of children in the Gloriavale community will be the number one priority for our work there,” she said. “We also know there have been a number of changes in the community.”
Gregory said the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust was encouraged by the Government’s continued interest and the practical outcomes being developed, particularly improved access to health services.
However, it felt the plan lacked clear time lines, review and reporting requirements, and consequences for failing to meet its outcomes.
Gregory said said leavers had shared harrowing experiences in the Royal Commission hearings about why intervention was necessary.
“Those same voices should now be part of shaping what effective intervention looks like, but at this stage they have been disappointingly left out of the discussions.”
Gregory also criticised the measure for coercion, slavery and trafficking, saying it relied too heavily on “the extremes of self-reporting or prosecutions”.
“Gloriavale has never self-reported coercion, slavery or trafficking and are unlikely to ever do so,” she said.
She said there should be a survivor-led approach and any self-review or reporting measures needed to be viewed cautiously.