Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Sexual abuse

This section summarises the evidence provided by witnesses of sexual abuse ranging from contact sexual abuse including rape and associated physical violence to non-contact abuse such as enforced nakedness and voyeurism. Witnesses were generally distressed when describing their experiences of sexual abuse. They spoke in as much or as little detail as they wished. Some witnesses provided detailed and disturbing accounts of sexual abuse, other accounts were sufficient to clarify the acute or chronic nature of both contact and non-contact sexual abuse. A priest sexually abused me. ... It’s not very easy to talk about it.... There is things there but I don’t know how to get them out. I’d love to be able to come out with them, but I just can’t.... There’s no easy way of saying things like that.

Two hundred and forty two (242) male witnesses (59%) made 253 reports of sexual abuse in relation to 20 Schools.9 Eleven (11) witnesses reported sexual abuse in relation to two separate Schools. Witnesses described their experience of sexual abuse as either acute incidents or multiple episodes that, for some, occurred throughout their entire admission in the School. Witnesses reported being sexually abused by religious and lay staff in addition to other adults, most of whom had some association with the Schools. Witnesses also reported being sexually abused by co-residents.

The frequency of sexual abuse reports varied widely between Schools: Four (4) Schools were collectively the subject 156 reports.10 Five (5) Schools were the subject 10-17 reports, totalling 67 reports. Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of 1-6, totalling 30 reports.

One School was the subject of 29% of all sexual abuse reports heard by the Committee.

Sexual abuse was reported to occur in combination with other types of abuse as shown in the following table:

Abuse types	Number of reports	%
Sexual, emotional, neglect and physical	166	66
Sexual, neglect and physical	49	19
Sexual, emotional and physical	20	8
Sexual and physical	14	6
Sexual, emotional and neglect	2	1
Sexual and neglect	1	(0)
Sexual	1	(0)
Total reports	253	100

One hundred and sixty six (166) reports were of all four types of abuse and constituted 66% of the sexual abuse reports. In 249 instances (98%) witnesses reported both sexual abuse and physical abuse.

As with the other abuse types, sexual abuse was most often reported by witnesses who were discharged during the 1960s. The following table shows the distribution of witness accounts of sexual abuse across the decades covered by this Report:11

Decade of discharge	Number of sexual abuse reports	%
Pre-1960s	88	35
1960-69	119	47
1970-79	37	15
1980-89	9	4
Total	253	(100)*

There are some proportional differences between the sexual abuse reports and the combined abuse reports for each discharge period. For example, there were 203 reports of abuse from 177 witnesses discharged prior to 1960, and 43% of those reports were of sexual abuse. By contrast, there were 60 reports of abuse from 50 witnesses discharged in the 1970s of which 62% were reports of sexual abuse.

Witnesses described contact sexual abuse including: inspection of genitalia, kissing, fondling of genitalia, forced masturbation of, and by, an abuser, digital penetration, penetration by objects, oral and anal rape and attempted rape, by individuals and groups. Witnesses also reported several forms of non-contact sexual abuse including detailed interrogation about sexual activity, indecent exposure, inappropriate sexual talk, voyeurism, and forced public nudity. Some witnesses gave accounts of isolated incidents of sexual abuse and others reported being sexually abused on many occasions, over a period of months or years. The Committee developed a classification of the different forms of sexual abuse described by witnesses, which are shown in the following table:

Forms of sexual abuse	Frequency reported	%
Inappropriate fondling and contact	183	32
Forced masturbation of abuser by child	89	16
Use of violence	88	16
Anal rape	68	12
Masturbation of child by abuser	50	9
Oral/genital contact	30	5
Non-contact abuse including voyeurism	25	4
Attempted rape	14	2
Kissing	12	2
Digital penetration	6	1
Total	565*	(100)**

The most frequently described form of sexual abuse was inappropriate fondling of which there were 183 reports. In 50 instances inappropriate fondling was combined with reports of masturbation of the witness by the abuser. Forced masturbation of the abuser by the witness was reported by 89 witnesses, 30 of whom reported being coerced and physically assaulted while being subjected to masturbation and oral/genital contact.

Sixty eight (68) witnesses reported being anally raped. There were a further 14 reports of attempted rape and six reports of digital penetration. Many of these reports were associated with violence, of which there were 88 reports in total, including 23 reports of injuries to genitalia by beating with a leather and kicking.

Reports of non-contact sexual abuse included 15 accounts of witnesses being questioned and interrogated about their sexual activity and knowledge and 10 reports of voyeurism and indecent exposure.

The secretive and isolated nature of sexual abuse was frequently described. Many witnesses reported that the fear of severe punishment and the threat of either them or their siblings being sent to a more restrictive institution inhibited them in both resisting and disclosing sexual abuse. Witnesses further reported that the culture of obeying orders without question, the authority of the abuser and the experience of not being believed and being severely beaten after they reported abuse, rendered them powerless to stop the abuse.

Sexual abuse was reported to have occurred mainly in private and occasionally in the company of other residents and staff members. Witnesses reported being sexually abused in many locations, including: dormitories, sleeping quarters and offices of staff members, cloakrooms, churches, sacristies, classrooms, workshops, kitchens, infirmaries, showers, toilets, outside sheds and farm buildings, fields, recreation areas, motor vehicles, private homes, commercial premises, and other off-site locations. Witnesses stated that particular areas of activity such as kitchens, farmyards, infirmaries and music rooms provided opportunities for staff members to isolate residents without fear of disturbance.

Sexual abuse was also reported to occur off-site when residents were taken out of the institution for holidays, outings or work placements, by individuals who sexually abused them. Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was often preceded by physical violence that they believed was intended as an intimidating threat. Others described receiving special attention and experiencing friendly encounters over periods of time that they welcomed, as many of them experienced no other kindness or affection, an example of which is described below: One night I was lying in bed and I was woke up by ...(Br X)... he said “I’m not going to harm you or anything, don’t be afraid”. At that time I thought he just wanted to chat, I thought it was a normal thing. The next thing he sat on my bed, he said “don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hit you”. The next thing he took hold of my hand, put my hand on his privates, I took my hand away and with that he slapped me, he slapped me quite a few times and I was crying and he left. He came back later, he opened his trousers and took my hand and put it on his privates, out of total fear I obeyed. He instructed me in what to do and that amounted to masturbation and that continued over the time I was there.