Healing After Abuse in CareHealing After Abuse in Care As the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry draws near, survivors share their hopes for the healing process ahead. Intergenerational Abuse and Its Impact Karah Mackie, a survivor of abuse in a state institution, believes the government needs to recognize the role abuse plays in shaping individuals’ lives. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the cycle of abuse and its consequences. Call for Survivor-Led Response Mackie urges the government to implement the report’s recommendations in a manner that involves survivors in decision-making. She believes survivors should have a place to share their experiences and determine what healing and support they need. Need for Community Support To prevent abuse in care from continuing, Mackie advocates for supporting families and preventing children from entering care. She highlights the need for local, community-based care structures that are responsive to the needs of those they serve. Empowering Survivors Survivors should have the power to shape their own healing process. Mackie emphasizes the importance of creating survivor-led spaces where individuals can connect and receive support from each other. Conclusion The healing process for survivors of abuse in care requires acknowledgment, accountability, and a commitment to breaking the cycle of abuse. By involving survivors in the implementation of the report’s recommendations and providing community support and empowerment, we can create a path towards a brighter future for our most vulnerable.
This article was first published by RNZ
On July 24, the final report of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry will be made public by the government. Ahead of the public release of the report, survivors share their hopes for the healing process ahead.
First person – Growing up in a home exposes you to the worst aspects of humanity.
Everyone knows that abuse in healthcare did not simply stop in 1999. There was no magic line drawn that meant no one would ever be abused again.
I want to make it clear that although the healthcare environment has changed since 1999, abuse still occurs.
There is a whakataukī that is relevant to the whole process surrounding the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Healthcare: Titiro ki muri, kia whakatika ā mua – look to the past to move into the future.
The reason I was placed in care was essentially because of the consequences of my mother’s experiences with the care system. She was never given any support to address the experiences she had growing up or the abuses she had experienced while in state care. If she had had support, therapy or some form of reparation, I think it is highly likely that my siblings and I would have remained in her care.
I feel like the government doesn’t fully understand what it means to be a survivor of the system and abuse in state care. They don’t seem to understand that this path is a cycle that often leads to victims becoming perpetrators in one way or another.
You’re exposed to the worst aspects of humanity when you grow up in a nursing home because you grow up with abuse and you don’t know any better. The blueprint that you’re given on how to navigate this world is just one of survival, and when you’re running on survival, there’s often no room for morality.
For me, being able to connect with the tuakana survivors throughout the commission process has been a huge help. It has helped me understand my own mamae (pain) and also the collective mamae of the experienced rangatahi.
Many survivors end up living with a sense of guilt because they know they did things that were not tika (correct/right), which they needed to do at the time to survive. I have seen and grown from being around tuakana who were able to hold space with themselves and others for both responsibility and compassion, to reconcile who they were meant to be and what they were meant to do, and understand that that is not where they are now.
That’s the lens through which I’ve tried to approach abusers. It’s unpacking that cycle of abuse that runs so deep in our community, that’s so important. It’s this necessary kōrero that you have to have with yourself and that we have to have with each other.
Call for a ‘survivor-led response’ in implementing the report’s recommendations
The government needs to recognize that abuse is often what pushes someone into the life they lead. The state needs to acknowledge the pain, take responsibility, and decide that the cycle of abuse will end with us.
But at the moment I just see mixed messages. The government has really supported the inquiry process, but they are making decisions that now impact rangatahi in care, and those decisions are not consistent, or showing us that they actually understand the negative impact of these systems and institutions on our communities.
The policies currently being implemented, such as cuts to Oranga Tamariki and the reintroduction of penal camps, create a context in which abuses in state care have been able to flourish. There is no recognition of people’s experiences and no choice for change so that abuses in care can no longer continue.
Because I have a major interest in the government’s response to this report, I am on my guard.
I truly hope and long for a system of reparations that acknowledges and responds to the gravity of people’s experiences, and that is truly tika (real) and understands the healing process that our community needs.
What I think is important is that survivors have a place where they can share our kōrero and decide what happens next, and that the government can listen to this and āwhina (support) our community in the right way.
Doing what we can to support whānau and prevent rangatahi from ending up in care is really important. So much of this starts and ends with poverty. And so is providing community structures so that care is more local and pono (true) to the people it is meant to serve.
I would like to see a survivor-led response to the implementation of the report’s recommendations. Te Roopū Toiora is a survivor collective that creates spaces where people can take that journey together and venture into the space of survivor-led healing. There is such an underrepresentation of those kinds of spaces, of actual survivor-led healing or recovery.
Survivors must be given the power and respect they deserve to determine what is right for their community – and the autonomy to give that āwhina to each other. That is what is needed now.
*Karah Mackie’s story is one of intergenerational abuse. She is 24 years old, from Ngā Puhi whakapapa and is a survivor of abuse in a state institution.
Mackie is on the board of the Survivors Experience Service and has been involved in research and engagement projects on abuse in care. Her experience in care, her professional experience and her time with other young people in care systems puts her in a unique position to make recommendations for change.
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By Karah Mackie for RNZ
