Chapter 9 — Record of abuse (female witnesses)

Neglect

The lack of planning and involvement of witnesses in any discussions about discharge resulted in them having no time or opportunity to say goodbye to siblings and friends. This abrupt ending to their years in care was reported by witnesses to be traumatic. ‘No great goodbyes from what had been my home for 9 years’. Discharges in these circumstances were particularly distressing for witnesses who were leaving younger siblings behind whom they knew were being abused. Others reported that the loss of friendships was distressing, both at the time and in subsequent years, as they never regained contact. It was the day our ...witness’s sister... left, I were sitting on the swing. I were crying, my sister, she just said goodbye to me. I just heard that she was gone for good, she didn’t know herself where she was going. She ...(Sr X)... gave me a backhander because I was crying. I split my head. I told them ...(in the hospital)... I fell, the nun was there beside me you couldn’t say anything or you’d get worse.

Another witness who had spent several months in hospital following a leg injury was 16 years old when she was ready to be discharged. The witness reported that the Resident Manager of the School where she had previously resided for many years refused to readmit her or offer any further assistance. She was discharged from hospital to the local county home and reported ongoing medical problems that required several subsequent operations.

Many witnesses reported that there remained a consistent lack of preparation for independent living and little aftercare provided by Schools in the 1970s and 1980s. Others reported that there were some improvements and changes in practice and procedures since the 1970s, with planned discharges and some preparation for independent living. Sr ...X... said “it’s time for ye to leave”. I said “what?” She said “I’m going to give ye a few days now, you can finish your Junior Cert and then you have to go”. We ...(witness and co-resident)... thought, “what on earth are we going to do, where are we going to go?” We had nothing. Within a couple of days we had found a flat, the 2 of us, we found it ourselves and we left out the door with a couple of suitcases. I had to leave school, I would have liked to have stayed on. I did alright in my Junior Cert, but I had to leave. A teacher in the school phoned up and explained the situation and got me a job. • When I left I wanted to do ...training... she ...(Sr X)... was giving out about the funds ...(cost).......named lay care staff... persuaded her to let me go. I remember I was brought up to a big city, a place I hadn’t a clue of where we were, I was put into a B&B by Sr ...X... and Sr ...Y... and she ...(Sr X)... gave me a cheque for £200 and I had to find a flat for myself, I had no pots, no pans, nothing, I was on my own. There were times when I was there when I was hungry, a friend from School would give me soup and bread.

Most witnesses who had been in institutional care for an extended period of time reported that when they were discharged they were given little information about the terms of their admission or discharge, their medical history or any of their formal documentation such as educational or birth certificates. The Committee heard 15 reports of witnesses being provided with incorrect information regarding family circumstances, for example being told that their parents were deceased or that they had no siblings. For many of these witnesses such misinformation has continued to be a cause of great distress and unresolved anger: I applied for my birth cert after I left the School and discovered that my mother wasn’t married. I had been told all my life ... (in named School)... that she was dead and that my father died when I was 2. It was a shock, I went looking ...(for information)...when I was getting married and the priest put me off.... Since then ...(in recent years)... I got the details off the social worker, she arranged for me to meet her ... (witness’s birth mother).... When I met the poor lady, she was a lovely woman, she didn’t want me given up, she was supposed to be paying for me. They ...(Sisters)... had her name and details all the time and she lived near, and none of this was told you before you left. They should have talked to us, you had to deal with it all yourself, it ...(the information)... was coming through the post, in a flat, on your own, finding out she was alive all the time.

Emotional abuse

Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare11 This section of the Report describes witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of secure relationships, family contact, identity, affection and approval, and by both a lack of safety and a lack of protection from harm. Such deprivations impaired the social, emotional and physical functioning and development of witnesses and were identified by them as disturbing both at the time and in the subsequent course of their lives.

Emotional abuse described by witnesses generally referred to routine practices that failed to recognise the individual needs of children and provide adequately for their care. Practices in relation to personal care, the separation of siblings, and enforced isolation and silence were reported as part of the rigid institutional system. A further component of emotional abuse described by witnesses referred to the constant physical and verbal abuse that engendered a culture of fear. Emotional abuse was described as pervasive and systemic and was less often ascribed to individual staff members. Therefore, while some staff were identified by witnesses, the following section does not include a list of reported abusers.

The Committee heard 364 reports of emotional abuse by 356 witnesses (94%) in relation to 40 Schools that admitted girls.12 There was a wide variation in the number of reports made in relation to each School. Two (2) Schools were collectively the subject of 115 reports.13 Seventeen (17) Schools were the subject of 6-20 reports, totalling 198 reports. Twenty one (21) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 51 reports.

Emotional abuse was reported in combination with each of the other abuse types, physical, sexual and neglect, as shown in the following table:

Abuse types	Number of reports	%
Emotional, neglect and physical	226	62
Emotional, neglect, physical and sexual	123	34
Emotional and physical	8	2
Emotional and neglect	3	1
Emotional physical and sexual	2	1
Emotional	1	(0)
Emotional, neglect and sexual	1	(0)
Total reports	364	100

Emotional abuse was reported in combination with all three of the other abuse types in 123 instances. Three hundred and fifty nine (359) reports (95%) of emotional abuse were combined with physical abuse and 126 reports (35%) combined emotional abuse with sexual abuse.

Table 42 below details the distribution of emotional abuse reports according to the witnesses’ discharge period.

Decade of discharge	Number of emotional abuse reports	%
Pre-1960s	123	34
1960-69	168	46
1970-79	66	18
1980-89	7	2
Total	364	100

It is of note that 20% of the emotional abuse reports were made by witnesses who were discharged after 1970, which was similar to those of physical abuse and neglect .

The main forms of emotional abuse identified by witnesses included: humiliation and ridicule, deprivation of contact with siblings and family, rejection, loss of identity, lack of affection, threat of harm and deliberate exposure to frightening situations. Other forms of emotional abuse included a punitive emphasis on religion, public humiliation and personal ridicule, denigration of family of origin, isolation, criticism and verbal abuse, and the unreasonable imposition of responsibility. There is some unavoidable overlap between the different forms of emotional abuse and between emotional abuse and other types of abuse, particularly physical and sexual abuse.

The most consistently reported form of emotional abuse described by female witnesses was humiliation and ridicule. One hundred and ninety seven (197) witnesses described being humiliated and ridiculed by a variety of means including name calling, being humiliated about personal hygiene, being subject to constant criticism, being made to publicly beg forgiveness for alleged misconduct, being made to stand or kneel to eat meals at a penance table, having attention called to physical disabilities or impairments, being forced to stand naked in front of others and having soiled underwear exhibited for ridicule.

The most frequently cited occasion for public humiliation was in the management of bed-wetting. Witnesses who wet their bed described having to carry wet mattresses and walk with wet sheets over their head and shoulders through the School and across the yards to drying rooms, the laundries, or while sitting in the refectories. In three Schools it was reported that witnesses had to drape wet sheets on their shoulders in classrooms shared with local children. Eight (8) witnesses reported that the Resident Manager of a particular School forced those who wet their beds to wear their wet sheet or pants on their head or shoulders as they walked as far as the School gate. Others reported being forced to stand in the refectory with the wet sheet on their back while they ate breakfast or while watching others eat.

Witnesses also reported being humiliated regarding their dress and general appearance. For example, a witness reported being punished by being forced to wear a dress made from a flour sack, which was removed in advance of an inspector’s visit. Others described having to wear ragged clothes to school in the company of children from the town and being teased about their poor attire. Another witness who needed glasses and had been recommended by the doctor to sit in front of the class reported that the Sister ridiculed her in front of the class saying ‘we would not like to look at this ugly girl all day, would we girls?’ Witnesses reported being mocked by staff about their personal appearance and humiliated by having attention drawn to adolescent changes: One time my sister brought me a bra. Sr ...X... made me stand up in the hall in front of the whole school and made me take it off and said “who do you think you are?”