GENERATIONS of children who suffered savage institutional abuse at the hands of religious orders were also failed by the Department of Education, which ignored its own regulations and kowtowed to the Church.The Commission into Child Abuse Report concludes various arms of the state failed to properly check on the care and well-being of children in industrial schools, where they suffered horrendous abuse and lived in "a climate of fear".
The commission concludes that physical and emotional abuse and neglect were rife in the institutions, while sexual abuse occurred in many of them.
Shockingly, the report states while the system of large-scale institutionalisation was an outdated response to a 19th century social problem, the combination of a "deferential and submissive attitude" by the Department of Education to the congregations and generous capitation grants meant children needed to be committed to the schools "for reasons of economic viability of the institutions".
When problems did arise in the schools, "the system of inspection by the Department of Education was fundamentally flawed and incapable of being effective," the report finds.
Inspectors had little power and only investigated children’s physical care, ignoring their emotional needs. School managers were notified of inspections in advance, the children themselves were rarely spoken to, and punishment books were not kept in the institutions or made available to inspectors, despite regulations to the contrary.
On the issue of physical abuse the report found:
* Rules and regulations regarding corporal punishment were disregarded with the department’s knowledge.
* The abuse in the schools was systematic, widespread, and arbitrary, "inculcated into the culture of the schools by successive generations of brothers, priests and nuns".
* Children lived with "the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from".
* Complaints by parents and others to the department were not properly investigated.
On sexual abuse:
* It was "endemic" in boys’ institutions and extended from improper touching to rape, with perpetrators often able to operate undetected for long periods.
* Members of the congregation who abused children were dealt with internally, even though "it is clear from the documented cases that [the congregations] were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse".
* Abusers were often simply moved to another institution, and one forum in the forties which led to boys identifying brothers who carried out abuse was quickly discontinued.
* In some cases, older boys abused younger boys, who were offered no protection by those in charge.
* The attitude of nuns made it difficult for girls to report issues of sexual abuse.
* A culture of silence meant the department was seldom made aware of sexual abuse issues and when it was, it dealt inadequately with them, often dismissing or ignoring them.
The conclusions also paint a frightening picture of everyday neglect, with children frequently hungry and cold, living in basic conditions and not receiving a proper education.
The painful effect of emotional abuse was accentuated by everyday ridicule and degradation, backed by constant verbal criticism.
Soiled or wet sheets were openly displayed, children witnessed siblings and friends being beaten and humiliated, and "some children lost their sense of identity and kinship, which was never recovered".
Despite the disastrous failings of the system, the report reveals that many victims of abuse still held onto some positive memories, even those as bleak as not receiving a beating when one was expected.
Poignantly, the report’s conclusions state: "More kindness and humanity would have gone far to make up for poor standards of care."
The committee also heard evidence in relation to 216 settings other than industrial and reformatory schools, including primary and secondary schools and foster care, illustrating further catastrophic failings where they too suffered abuse, with some vulnerable children being groomed for sexual abuse.
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