The dissapeared
Solitary confinement destroys people, but New Zealand continues to inflict it on our most vulnerable and damaged people, including children, as a matter of course. Aaron Smale reports on the…
Walk with us – clear evidence that investing in purposeful peer support rebuilds the lives of male survivors
Tuatoko Tāne Aotearoa has released its Social Investment Proposal in support of a request for increased Government funding to sustain the capability and capacity of its national network of support…
Broadcaster Alan Jones charged with 24 offences over indecent assault allegations
The 83-year-old was charged following an investigation into alleged indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.
Research article – Discourses of (Dis)trust and Hegemonic Masculinity: Service Providers’ Perspectives on the Disclosure Process of Men Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence in Childhood
In this article, we explore the discourses of service providers that influence the disclosure process for men who have experienced childhood sexual violence (CHSV). Previous research has shown that it…
Tautoko Tāne Aotearoa publishes a brief history of the last ten years developing a national network to enable the wellbeing of New Zealand male survivors of sexual violence.
The publication, Coming In From The Cold, includes the experiences of 26 male survivors, generously shared by Tautoko Tāne staff and clients with editor Bex De Prospo Carr and ably…
Aaron Smale: An apology both sincere and hollow
A leading investigative journalist reflects on a day that victims of state and church abuse have fought for their whole lives.
The full text of Christopher Luxon’s Crown apology to abuse survivors
It “is a significant, sorrowful but important day” for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said in his formal apology to abuse victims at Parliament. Survivors around the country…
Abuse in care apology called PR stunt, ‘not genuine’ and ‘tokenistic’ by some survivors
Survivors of abuse in care arrived at Parliament today to hear the formal apology from the state which oversaw and inflicted harm on children.
For abuse in care survivors, an apology without action means nothing
Tomorrow, the prime minister will deliver a national apology for abuse that occurred in state and faith-based care. But for survivors, redress and accountability still look to be a long…
Sorry means you don’t do it again
Investigative journalist Aaron Smale, who helped expose the horrors of abuse in state care and ongoing legal torment, reflects on the Government apology to victims that will be delivered tomorrow.
Abuse survivors want Jagose gone
Una Jagose was involved in throwing everything at efforts to stop victims of state abuse winning their cases. Now those victims don’t trust her to lead the government’s legal response.
Male sexual abuse survivors isolated in the darkness
Aspects of this story may be upsetting to some readers. Richard Old had been dead for about three weeks before anyone found him. And it wasn’t because he had no…
Research article – Male Rape – The Forbidden Word
There is much research and growing attention on Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including rape against men and boys. There is substantial evidence indicating that sexual violence against men is common in…
Erica Stanford: ‘Apologies can be hollow without actions’
A collection of legislative changes to improve the state care system for future generations will accompany the Government’s apology to those who suffered abuse and torture as children.
Attorney-General ignores survivors’ calls and backs Solicitor-General
Despite growing pressure from state abuse survivors, Judith Collins expresses confidence in Una Jagose.
Abuse and torture victims still waiting for government redress
A man who survived torture as a teenager at the notorious Lake Alice psychiatric facility in the 1970s and had to go to the UN in his efforts to gain…
Crown cover-up? When the state turned on its victims – Part 1
Offices of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General have been implicated in what a Royal Commission calls a ‘cover-up’ of torture and sexual abuse of children in the custody of the state….
Crown cover-up? Legal trickery – Part 2
When Helen Clark came into power in 1999, the system under her government continued to minimise the Crown’s liability for the state’s torture and abuse of children, which had breached…
Crown cover-up? Full disclosure – Part 3
Even with the UN and a Royal Commission of Inquiry breathing down its neck, Crown Law was still not disclosing information to police or the UN’s Committee Against Torture. Aaron Smale…
Crown cover-up? ‘Embarrassing, not traumatic’ – Part 4
He was put through the legal meat grinder so the Crown could escape liability for thousands of victims. But that victory has now been exposed as cynical and brutal. Aaron…
Crown cover-up? Limiting liability – Part 5
The Royal Commission has revealed systemic abuse of hundreds of thousands of children in the custody of the state. But it has also uncovered what it calls a cover-up. At…
New head of Crown abuse response put NZ’s false case to UN
Ahead of the Crown’s planned formal apology next month to survivors of abuse in state care, it appoints a new executive with history in its handling of the affair.
Research article – Male Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: A Review
Male child sexual abuse is over-represented in institutional settings. This realization has increasingly come into public focus in recent decades initially through lived experience, often with male survivors’ stories told…
Research article – Consequences of violent assaults for young victims and their parents
Falling victim to crime is a frightening event, with serious negative consequences for victims’ health, labour market participation, and human capital accumulation. Most existing studies on the impacts of victimisation…