Lack of progress on abuse prevention akin to a crime, government told
Survivors of abuse in New Zealand state care are criticizing the government for the slow implementation of recommendations from a major Royal Commission of Inquiry. Advocates argue that the lack of progress on redress and prevention is a failure of justice.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing struggle for accountability and systemic reform regarding human rights abuses in state-run institutions.
A survivor of abuse in state care says the government's lack of progress towards preventing further harm is bordering on a crime.
But the minister in charge says the government's committed to change, and it will take years to make things right.
Survivors gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday to hand ministers and opposition MPs bouquets of flowers gathered from institutions where people were abused.
Survivors gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday.
The ceremony marked two years since the release of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry's final report .
It made more than 100 recommendations, but survivors and the Human Rights Commission told politicians only a fraction had been delivered and some had been rejected.
As survivor Keith Wiffin handed a bouquet to the minister responsible for the government's response, Erica Stanford, he shared a few quiet words with her.
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