Inclusion Daily Express -- Government Offers Abuse "Forum" Rather Than Inquiry

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Government Offers Abuse "Forum" Rather Than Inquiry
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 13, 2004

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND--Some former residents of New Zealand psychiatric institutions, who claim they were abused as children at the facilities, were outraged last week over news that the government would simply set up a forum for them to talk about their allegations, and provide counseling for them.

The former patients had hoped that at a minimum the government would take their allegations seriously and open a broad investigation.

But Attorney-General Margaret Wilson said Tuesday that the claimants would have to take their cases through "appropriate agencies" such as police and the Health and Disability Commission.

Wilson said the decision to hold the forums was in response to former patients who indicated they wanted to talk about their mistreatment in order to get some closure. She added that some staff members had denied abuse allegations made about them and that they should have their day in court to refute the claims.

More than 200 past patients have filed claims in recent years alleging they were mistreated while institutionalized during the 1960s and 1970s. They alleged that hospital staff often punished them by performing electric shock treatments on them without benefit of anesthesia, isolating them for long periods of time, and injecting them with strong sedatives. Many who were between 8 and 16 years of age at the time claimed that they were locked in rooms with adults who sexually assaulted them.

About 80 claims have been filed against the government in the High Court. They are seeking up to $500,000 compensation each and exemplary damages of nearly $50,000.

"The Government knows that we can't afford to go through the courts. Who could afford the legal fees?" said Kevin Banks, who was punished with electro-convulsive treatment -- without the benefit of anesthesia -- at Lake Alice Hospital during the 1970s.

"And some group encounter session to talk about it? She (Wilson) knows bloody well nobody will turn up for that . . .who would bother? It's not going to help to sit and talk about it."

Attorneys Sonya Cooper and Roger Chapman, who represent the former patients, had wanted the government to work out a legal settlement for the entire group of claimants.

Now, the plaintiffs will have to take their cases individually to the courts.

"It's a big slap in the face," Cooper told the New Zealand Herald about the forum. "It seems to me to be a complete waste of time."

Cooper added that the decision forces most of the alleged victims to go through the court process, "to confront the very people who abused them, and to relive the traumatic experiences they had hoped to put behind them".

Chapman said he believes the government is avoiding the investigation and a group settlement to discourage individuals from suing.

"We were looking for some sort of [Government] investigation," he said. "This forum will be able to do nothing at all except listen to what people say."

Nearly all of New Zealand's institutions have been implicated in the abuse claims. All, except Porirua Hospital, have since been closed.

Related:
"Forum offer is 'a sick joke'" (Manuatu Standard)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/1213b.htm
"Forum won't keep psych abuse claims out of courts - lawyer" (New Zealand Press Association)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3120676a10,00.html
"Culture Of Abuse At Former New Zealand Institutions" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/nz/nz.htm

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