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Stuff
May 12, 2004
MP accuses woman doctor of abusing young girls
NZPA
Young girls were
sexually abused at Glenelg Health Camp in Christchurch by a woman health officer who then
accused their fathers of the offences, it was alleged in Parliament today.
ACT MP Deborah Coddington said families were destroyed by those accusations
while successive governments ignored a "dreadful scandal".
She said that in 1987 three girls went to the health camp and were put in the
care of the state.
"A state employee sexually abused these little girls and no government
has ever done anything except sweep this scandal under the carpet," she
said.
Speaking under parliamentary privilege, Ms Coddington named the officer of
health.
"Dr . ..., without the parents' permission and with no other adult
present, repeatedly examined these little girls in a way that can only be
described as sexual abuse," she said.
"She inserted swabs into their vaginas. She measured their vaginas with
tape measures, not once, not twice, but over and over again.
"She kept saying to these little girls – this is what your fathers do to
you, isn't it."
Ms Coddington said the doctor convinced the Department of Social Welfare that
the girls were being sexually abused by their fathers, and they were not
allowed home to their families until their mothers agreed to separate from
their husbands.
"The police investigated these men and found not a shred of evidence
that these men had sexually abused their daughters," she said.
"These families have been destroyed. One of these girls, who I am in
contact with now, is a very, very damaged young lady.
"She was put in foster care, she was abused in foster care, she lived on
the streets from age 11. Eventually she found her way back to her
father."
Ms Coddington said there had to be an inquiry.
"She (the woman doctor) might well be innocent but she needs to be
brought to an inquiry, which I have asked this House to instigate," she
said.
"The state has enormous powers. . .and it has abused those powers. The
state can try to do something to put it right."
Ms Coddington released a letter she sent to Justice Minister Phil Goff dated
May 6.
In it she said the three girls were publicly identified in a TVNZ Assignment
programme in 1995 and she had spoken with one of them and her father.
"I am trying to do something to help them. I have also spoken with the
mother of a second girl. The third girl I have been unable to trace,"
she said in the letter.
"Minister, nothing has ever been done for these girls or their families.
Nobody cared. Their concerns were pushed under the carpet. National and
Labour just hoped it would all go away.
"I urge you to immediately order a select committee inquiry into what
went on at the Glenelg Health Camp in the years 1987/1988."
A spokesman for Mr Goff confirmed the letter had been received. Mr Goff is
overseas until later this week.
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