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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A Catholic orphanage in
Upper Hutt in the 1960s would have done the Gestapo proud, a High Court judge
has been told. In Wellington yesterday
former orphanage girl Shirley Ford told the court the orphanage was a
loveless wasteland. Leaving was like being
released from prison, she said. Ms Ford was testifying
as a result of contacting lawyers for a woman at the orphanage after her, who
is suing St Joseph's Orphanage Trust Board and the Sisters of Mercy
(Wellington) Trust Board, along with Wellington's Roman Catholic Archdiocese
and Catholic Social Services. The plaintiff, whose
name is suppressed, is claiming $550,000. She says she was emotionally,
verbally, physically, and sexually abused in their care. The Catholic groups are
defending the claim both as to what happened and on legal grounds. Ms Ford said she was at
the orphanage from early 1963 till mid 1966, from ages nine to 12. Eventually
she found the courage to rebel and she was asked to leave for being
disruptive and a bad influence on the other girls. Some nuns had a kind
word for her but the nun who had the most to do with the day-to-day running
of the orphanage was extremely cruel. That nun used a strap
with grim force but the pain of the mental cruelty was worse, Ms Ford said. At best the treatment
the nuns handed out was terribly misguided for thinking it was for the girls'
own good. At worst the regime would have done the Gestapo proud, she said. Another woman, whose
name was suppressed, said she had tried to block out the time in the early
1960s she spent at the orphanage. The nuns punished her for crying, and she
was never allowed to grieve for her mother, who had committed suicide. The verbal abuse was
horrible and the nuns physically lashed out, she said. She remembered three
nuns who were kind. Psychiatrists for both
sides have interviewed the plaintiff. They agreed she was
very disturbed, and diagnosed depression, generalised anxiety disorder with
panic attacks, alcohol abuse, personality disorder, and symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder. Events before her
parents' marriage breakup, and separation from her mother, would have
predisposed her to later impaired functioning, they said. If the events she
alleges at St Joseph's did happen, they would have had a serious effect on
her and the alleged sexual abuse would be responsible for a significant part
of her adult impairment and disorder. They disagreed on how much
they could rely on her recall of events. One of the
psychiatrists, John Crawshaw, continues testimony today. |
