New Zealand’s prime minister on Tuesday delivered a historic apology to victims abused in state care, acknowledging the “unimaginable pain” suffered within children’s homes and psychiatric hospitals.
Some 200,000 vulnerable New Zealanders were abused in state care over decades, according to a recent public inquiry that described its findings as an “unthinkable national catastrophe”.
Children were sexually abused by church carers, mothers were forced to give up kids for adoption, and troublesome patients were strapped to beds for seizure-inducing electroconvulsive therapy.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday apologised on behalf of successive governments that turned a blind eye to such harrowing reports.
NEW ZEALAND DELIVERS LANDMARK APOLOGY TO SURVIVORS OF STATE ABUSE
