Chapter 9 — Record of abuse (female witnesses)

Neglect

A witness from one School reported that a bequest was made by an ex-resident to the institution to allow each resident to receive a small amount of pocket money each week to foster independence. The witness reported that residents lined up to get the money each week. It was immediately taken back and the residents were informed it was being saved for them. This witness reported that she asked for it when she was being discharged and was told it had been used to buy her clothes. I didn’t know anything about money. ... You don’t know how to go into the shop and ask, you never done daily things, you never done your own washing, so you had to find out ...by ... trial and error. I remember going into ...(department store)... and the girl there helped me, she was great. I had never bought clothes before. I had to learn all this, pay your rent, pay your light ...(electricity bill)... and all this, even when you were leaving they should have told us, or got us ready, given us some information but they gave us nothing, we had to apply for everything and then it was different to what you were told in the School.

A number of the 64 witnesses who were discharged to their family home commented on the difficulty they experienced reintegrating with families from whom they had been separated, in some situations with little contact for a number of years. Witnesses described being dropped on their parents’ or older siblings’ doorstep without prior notice or any further contact, follow-up or aftercare. Among the circumstances which confronted witnesses were impoverished living conditions, homelessness, sexual abuse and rejection by families who had become strangers.

Witnesses reported being placed directly in employment without consultation as to what they wished to do. ‘I was still in their grip, they took me, they told me without asking me. They took me to ...named city... and put me to work in hospital.’ The limited information provided about where they were going and what work they were expected to do was reported repeatedly by witnesses. They reported not being given any practical advice or reassurance about what their new situation might entail or who to contact if they experienced any difficulties. Witnesses described being handed a train and/or boat ticket, with the address of a prospective employer or relative and left to make their own way to Dublin, London or another city in the UK. The Committee heard a small number of reports of witnesses wandering aimlessly when they arrived until ‘rescued by the Police’ or some kind-hearted person who assisted them in getting to their destination.

Sixty one (61) witnesses reported being abused in work and holiday placements, many of whom emphasised that the lack of adequate assessment and supervision of aftercare left them vulnerable to abuse. Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being abused in various ways by employers following their discharge, often under threat of being returned to the Schools if they resisted or disclosed their abuse. The types of abuse reported by witnesses in these circumstances included physical and sexual abuse, not being paid and working excessively long hours. We used to go on holidays and from the first day I hated it. He was all right, the father..... She ...(mother in the holiday family)... wanted me to look after the kids and do the work, she was cruel. She made me ...(work).... I was in secondary school for one year, and then I went to the holiday family and at the end of the summer, the School used to phone up and say to come back, this time they did not phone so ... the family phoned and the nuns said “will you not keep her, is there not a school there that she can go to?” So they kept me and did not send me to school, I was a skivvy. I was only about 14 and got no more school....

Fourteen (14) witnesses reported being transferred to laundries when they were discharged, with no recollection of any formal transfer procedure. One witness reported being transferred to a laundry as punishment for having a boyfriend; others reported being transferred as punishment for what might be described as assertive behaviour. I’m pushed up against the wall and they ...Sr X and 3 lay staff... had me in on the wall beating the head off me, beating me unconscious. I put me hand out to save myself.... I knocked Sr ...X’s...veil off, it was accidental I did not strike that nun. I’m put into this room, it was out in the yard, there was no light in it and I was there until next day. Then I’m taken out by a Miss ...Y... a lady she was, a real lady she was a lovely woman, and she told me I was being sent down the country, I was being transferred. She put her arms around me and said “I’m sorry”.... I went down ... early in the morning and never got a chance to say goodbye to my sisters.... (Sent at 13 years to work in laundry)

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