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	The Damage Done Sunday Business Post May 31, 2009 http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=NEWS+FEATURES-qqqm=nav-qqqid=41971-qqqx=1.asp The lessons of the past should be learned. This is one of the main recommendations of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which published a shocking report last Wednesday. The report said that it was important for the state to admit that the abuse of children in industrial and reformatory schools took place because of systems and policy failure, as well as the failures of management, administration and senior personnel. However, it said this admission was only the beginning of the process, and that further steps needed to be taken to ensure that this indictment of the country's treatment of children was never repeated. But what will be done? Many former residents of these schools - some of whom were violently assaulted and sexually abused on a regular basis - believe the answer to that question is nothing; that the report is seen by the state as a way of giving closure to their long and protracted search for justice. The report listed 21 recommendations, the first of which was that a memorial be erected. This, former residents have said, signalled that the process had been stopped and, with the commission having admitted that it was statute barred from passing any of the material contained in the report to the Garda Siochána or the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, they could be right. Other groups share their concern, with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre urging that the report - which outlined physical and sexual abuse by more than 800 individuals - not be "left on a shelf". The words of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be inscribed on the memorial, words he used in May 1999 to apologise to the victims. "On behalf of the state and of all citizens of the state, the government wishes to make a sincere and long overdue apology to the victims of childhood abuse, for our collective failure to intervene, to detect their pain, to come to their rescue." These were among the first words of apology heard by victims. Over the past few days, there have been similar apologies from various ministers, the Department of Education, heads of religious orders and bishops across the country. But, the apologies seem to ring hollow considering the levels of severe violence, degradation and abuse revealed in the Ryan report [the commission was chaired by Mr Justice Seán Ryan].While the details are painful to hear and almost too much to take in, it was vital that they were laid bare to show what was allowed in institutions set up to care for children. This abuse was not only allowed to continue, but was ignored by the Department of Education and other authorities. The report found that physical and emotional abuse and neglect was a way of life in these institutions, which included those run by the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy. They were run in a severe, regimented manner that imposed unreasonable and oppressive discipline on children. Sexual abuse occurred in many of them, particularly boys' institutions. The abuse related to 216 schools, hospitals, homes and foster care situations, but the majority occurred in institutions and reformatories, such as Artane, Letterfrack and Goldenbridge industrial schools. Cari, a support group for victims of child sex abuse, said it feared that the report would give the public a false sense of security that such abuses were in the past. The report investigated abuse from 1914 until 2000,with most abuses occurring between 1930 and 1990. Physical abuse More than 90 per cent of witnesses who spoke to the commission said they had been physically abused. This was not just meted out by a few individuals - it was systemic. The report found that the harshness of the regime was ingrained in the culture of the schools by successive generations of brothers, priests and nuns who thought of themselves as custodians, not carers. Children lived in a constant state of fear and terror as they never knew where the next beating was coming from. There was no sanctuary anywhere in the institution, one victim said. If children were not being beaten, they were watching, or hearing, other children being violently assaulted. If the children tried to run away from the home, they were subjected to severe punishment - they were publicly beaten, humiliated or had their heads shaved. In some cases, all the children in the school were punished, meaning that the child who tried to abscond was then a target for abuse by other children. There was a culture of understanding in the system that beating children - especially boys - was acceptable and appropriate. This did not matter what part of the country the institutions were in, what decade it was or what religious congregation was in charge. Brothers, priests or lay staff who were extreme in their punishments were tolerated by management, with their behaviour rarely challenged. In the girls' schools, corporal punishment was "pervasive, severe, arbitrary and unpredictable". The degree of reliance on corporal punishment in girls' schools depended on the resident manager, but almost all employed fear of punishment as a means of discipline. Punishment for girls was often meted out in a way designed to increase anguish and humiliation for girls. They were often left waiting for long periods to be beaten, and the violence - often in front of the other girls - would be accompanied by "denigrating or humiliating language". Sexual abuse For boys in institutions, sexual abuse was endemic, ranging from improper touching to violent rape. People carrying out these acts were able to operate for long periods and were protected from detection. When laypeople were discovered to have sexually abused the children, they were reported to the gardaí. If it was members of the congregation, they were not. This shows that the congregation authorities knew the seriousness of the offence, but that the desire to protect the congregation and the institution was deemed more important than the safety and wellbeing of the children in their care. Those carrying out the sexual assaults were usually long term offenders who repeatedly abused children wherever they were working. Congregations had claimed that they were not aware of the propensity for abusers to re offend, but the Ryan report said it was clear they had known. "The risk, however, was seen by the congregations in terms of the potential for scandal and bad publicity, should the abuse be disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account," it said. If children complained, they were not listened to or believed. At best, offenders were transferred - usually to somewhere where they were free to abuse again. At worst, the child was blamed and severely punished. The report found that religious authorities did not listen to, or believe, people who complained of sexual abuse in the past, even when there was Garda or court evidence to back up the claims. They remained defensive and disbelieving of much of the evidence heard by the commission, even when it was admitted by the abuser in court. In general, male religious congregations were not prepared to accept their responsibilities in this area. Although girls were subjected to sexual abuse by male employees, visitors or, more often, when they were placed with host families, it was not systemic in girls' schools. Claims of sexual abuse were generally taken seriously by the sisters in charge, and lay staff were dismissed. But often the girls were too scared to report what had happened, for fear of punishment. Neglect Apart from the physical and sexual abuse, children were severely neglected in all schools, although there was evidence that the care improved in some cases in the late 1960s. Malnourishment was a problem, and children were often hungry and scavenged for food in waste bins and animal feed. Any food they did get was inadequate and, on occasion, inedible. In boys' schools, there was so little supervision at meal times that the smaller and weaker boys were bullied and their food taken from them. Children were cold and their clothes were inadequate, even when they were working for long hours on farms. Boys were often left in soiled and wet work clothes for long periods. Clothing was better in girls' schools but, in general, they had inadequate, ill-fitting clothes that were often threadbare and worn. Accommodation was cold and bleak. Children slept in large, unheated dormitories with inadequate bedding. Sanitary provision was primitive and general hygiene facilities were poor. Girls' sanitary protection for menstruation was generally inadequate. The children's educations were also neglected, with girls, in particular, taken out of classes to carry out domestic chores. This lack of education condemned the children to a future of low-paying jobs - girls were normally placed as domestic servants when they left the schools, while boys were placed in manual or unskilled jobs. There were exceptions in later years, with some girls becoming nurses or secretaries. Emotional abuse Being ridiculed and belittled on a daily basis was par for the course in these institutions. Children were subjected to humiliating practices like underwear inspections and displaying wet or soiled sheets. Children - particularly girls - were constantly told that they, and their families, were worthless, and they had to endure constant criticism and verbal abuse. Family contact was restricted, and this caused a profound effect on the children in later life. Some children were told their parents were dead when they were not; others were not allowed to go to the funerals of family members. The report said the psychological damage caused by these experiences continued into adulthood for many of the residents. Cataloguing the different forms of abuse that were carried out in the institutions around the country is almost impossible. Many victims say that the Ryan report is only the tip of the iceberg, and that they would never reveal some of the horrific things they had to endure or witness. Their greatest fear is that the Ryan report will be seen as the final chapter. But for the former residents, whose lives have been tainted by mental problems, poverty, social isolation, alcoholism, sleep disturbance, aggressive behaviour and self-harm, the torture they endured at the hands of those who were supposed to care for them will never end.
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