Chapter 9 — Record of abuse (female witnesses)

Specific practices used in physical abuse

Reports were heard of witnesses being severely beaten, the reason for which was not always clear to them. A number reported being severely beaten following disclosures of abuse, running away, and rule breaking. Other beatings were reported to be unpredictable and generally attributed to a small number of the named religious and lay staff. The most severe forms of such beatings were attributed to nine nuns. These beatings were generally referred to as ‘thrashings’, ‘whippings’ or ‘floggings’ and were described as physical assaults that were often administered in front of others.

The Committee heard 69 witness accounts of beatings by more than one person in relation to a small number of Schools, including nine that referred to witnesses more recently discharged in the 1970s. Such beatings were by two or more staff beating the witness simultaneously or one beating the witness while others, including co-residents, held them down. The role of the second person was either to hold the child being beaten or to participate in the beating. The public nature of these beatings was described by witnesses as a further component of the abuse that had a lasting traumatic effect. Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being stripped of all their clothing to be beaten and another 41 witnesses reported being beaten partially naked either privately or in front of co-residents in areas including the dormitories, refectories or classrooms. Witnesses also reported being restrained to be beaten; for example, seven witnesses reported that their wrists were tied to the frame of the bed that they were lain across, either naked or with their nightdress pulled up.

Others described being made to bend over chairs or other furniture to be beaten on their bare bottom, backs of their legs and backs. Attempts to escape from the beating resulted in being beaten more severely. Witnesses reported that severe beatings at times caused injury, drew blood and generally left the witness marked with bruises, welts or red marks. One witness described her bottom looking ‘like a plaid skirt’ after a beating. She ... (Sr X)... brought me upstairs, she’d throw you on the first bed inside the dormitory door, she put me across the bed naked, it was always naked, herself and Sr ...Y... and tied me to the bed with a sort of a tweedy rope. She had this thing of tying you to the bed, an iron bed, you know, and you couldn’t move then... She would beat you with the leather strap and count to 100 as she was beating. Then she’d say “get up and go down and do your homework”. I know I was beaten often with a strap but I was beaten like that 5 or 6 times. If you cried you got worse so I learned not to cry. • She ...(Sr X)... literally took off your underwear and got one of the bigger girls to hold your hands and another held your legs and literally walloped you until you were bleeding and you were hot and sticky and you went to bed and slept that off if you could. ... (It would)... leave bumps on you. • If you did something bad during the day you would be laid across the table in the refectory, you would be beaten on the behind with the cane and anywhere else if you used your elbow to protect yourself. I was sent to the middle of the room, with all the children standing around so they could see. The other girls would be in the refectory, you would be beaten on the behind, your skirt lifted up. She ...(Sr X)... would have them there watching you, some of them would be crying, they would be scared. • After school I was told to go and wait at the top of the stairs, to a small room where Sr ...X... and Sr ...Y... would make you kneel with your knickers down. They would beat you on the bare backside with a stick, sometimes you would have to hold each other down. If you were on your own they would hold you by the hair ... 6 severe whacks with a stick, if you jumped around you would get more.

The Committee heard evidence from 31 witnesses of what they believed was a loss of control by staff to the point where other residents or staff intervened to protect a resident. They described the person beating them as ‘in a lather of sweat’ and ‘out of control’. In relation to the most severe beatings witnesses described nuns being very angry and being in a rage. A small number of witnesses described being beaten to the point that they feared for their own lives and/or thought that the person beating them would collapse or suffer a heart attack. I remember her putting that cane in water and then whacking us, the cane had a crook and she would catch us around the neck. Mth ...X... she would loose control her eyes would roll, she would really flip, she would be in a sweat, her face would be so red.

Witnesses from a small number of Schools stated that at times the more severe beatings were administered in a deliberate and planned manner. They described being made to wait, sometimes overnight for beatings by the Resident Manager or other religious staff. In a number of Schools it was reported that the Resident Manager publicly called out the names of residents who were to be beaten, at a later time, by another Sister. They reported that being sent to wait in a particular place generally indicated a more severe beating. Witnesses variously reported being ‘sent to the office’, to ‘wait by your bed’, ‘stand on the landing’, ‘stand in the refectory’ and ‘wait outside the chapel’. Fifteen (15) witnesses reported being left waiting for lengthy periods of time, sometimes in the dark, naked or in their nightdress, to be physically punished. Others described waiting with co-residents for their turn to be beaten. Some witnesses described the waiting as often worse than the beating. She ... Sr ...X... would hit you with a cane in public, but she would hit you in private too. She would make me go to the dormitory and wait by my bed, I knew then it was going to be a bad one. ... I’d have to get into my nightdress, and wait and when Sr ...X... would arrive I’d have to take it off. She’d beat on the bare bottom, she’d work up such a sweat I thought she was going to get a heart attack. She’d ... be breathless, no matter how you yelled you were sorry, you weren’t sorry enough I guess. • She ...(Sr X)... had cuffs in her pocket, she’d take the cuffs out, we used make them, things you know you would put them up over your sleeves to protect whatever they had. She pulled the skirt up, they had a big wide skirt you know, and she’d pin the veil back over her shoulder like hair. She was getting herself ready, and she took her time doing it eyeballing me all the time, then she’d take out the strap, all rolled up in her pocket she carried it with her all the time on her, the keys were on a strap, she’d hit you with them, big huge keys too.

Witnesses made 136 reports of sustaining injuries as a result of physical abuse. Many witnesses reported more than one injury and 109 (80%) of the reports refer to admissions prior to 1970. The injuries included broken bones, head injuries and damage to eyes and ears, lacerations that required stitches as well as injuries to their backs, legs and arms. Thirty three (33) witnesses reported that they attended hospital with injuries received following physical abuse by religious and lay staff, eight of whom said that no questions were asked about how their injuries occurred. Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported bleeding and/or being marked with welts and bruises following physical assaults. Nineteen (19) witnesses reported receiving injuries to their head, four of whom lost consciousness. Eighteen (18) witnesses reported being attended by a local doctor for treatment of their injuries, including witnesses who had partially severed earlobes reattached. Thirteen (13) witnesses reported being left untreated following physical assault and injury. Thirteen (13) witnesses reported receiving eye or ear injuries following assault with a strap, stick or brush. Sixteen (16) witnesses reported broken noses or bones in their hands or arms. Ten (10) witnesses reported being scalded, burned by a hot poker or having their hands held over a fire. Nine (9) witnesses reported that as a result of beatings they were unable to sit, walk or move a limb for a time. Six (6) witnesses reported injuries with knives, in some instances requiring stitches. Four (4) witnesses reported treatment for infections caused by imbedded splinters and brush bristles as a result of beatings. My wrist broke, it was a nun broke it with a hurley ... (while beating witness)... there was metal bands around them. She whacked me, she caught me there ... (indicated spot on arm)... oh the pain it was awful, I was cheeky or something. When it’s going to be bad weather it hurts. • She ...(Sr X)... had a pointer stick, you would have to put out your left hand and then your right. One time, after a beating from her I had to go to the infirmary and ...(Sr Y)... she put iodine on it ...(injured arm)... for me and I had to wear a sling on my arm, she made a timber sling from wood for me. • Two nuns ...Sr X and Sr Y ...(beat me).... I was in bits, Jesus Christ, it was just awful. They left me all night, it was cold there ...(shoe room)... the next morning they took me out, I was in bits I was all black and blue.... They took me to the infirmary and the nun there said “my God we are going to have to get her to hospital”, they said “no”. They left me in the infirmary.

The Committee heard from a number of witnesses that they were denied visits from their parents or were kept in bed, out of sight from visiting family members and inspectors, including seven witnesses who gave evidence of being hidden from visiting inspectors, because they were bruised or otherwise injured following beatings.

There were 16 reports from witnesses of injury in one particular School, including three accounts of being unable to walk following a severe beating and four accounts of head injury. One witness reported being unconscious following a beating by two Sisters and then being hidden from the visiting doctor. Another witness reported the following experience of being severely beaten in the same School: Sr ...X... she took me by the top of the uniform and pulled me into the kitchen she gave me 16 of the best across the knuckles with the pantry roller.... At first I couldn’t feel the pain because I was after being in such pain with the chilblains. Then she said “16 on the back”.... She didn’t get to finish the 16 on my legs the sweat was running off her so much. It was only when I went to move I collapsed, I couldn’t move with the pain, my knees were twisted.... She called in 3 girls to help me up to my bed and there I stayed for almost 3 months. I couldn’t move with the pain in my hands and my legs and I never even got a tablet. She told me not to open my mouth or if I did I’d get worse. I was warned to keep it to myself, I had an accident that was it.

Five (5) witnesses from another School reported injuries, including two who gave accounts of hospital admissions for head injuries in the 1960s. There were no injuries reported in any other period for this School. It is of note that in both this School and the School mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Resident Managers at the time were identified by witnesses as the perpetrators of many reports of severe beatings and abuse.

Reported abusers

Three hundred and seventy four (374) witnesses identified 354 people by name as physically abusive. Witnesses reported being physically abused by a variety of staff, religious and lay, who they understood were engaged as Resident Managers, teachers, nurses, care and ancillary staff. It should be noted that Resident Managers or their designated deputies were authorised as Disciplinarians, as regulated.

In addition to reports of physical abuse by both religious and lay staff, there were a small number of adults not employed as staff, but associated with the Schools who were named as physical abusers. Witnesses also reported being abused by co-residents. In addition to those named as physically abusive by witnesses, there were six religious staff, 20 co-residents and 11 lay staff who were identified by their position but not by name.

The following table lists by position held those reported as physical abusers by witnesses:

Position held by named physical abusers	Males	Females
Religious
- Authority figure including Resident Manager	0	54
- Care staff	0	130
- Teacher	0	42
- Ancillary worker	0	15
- External priest or other clergy	4	0
Lay
- Care staff	0	50
- Teacher	0	14
- Ancillary worker	2	15
Weekend or holiday placement carer	1	2
Work placement provider	0	2
Co-resident	0	23
Total	7	347

As Table 34 shows the majority of those reported as physically abusive were female religious staff, reflecting the staffing profile in institutions in the period up to the 1970s. The witnesses described the different staff by name and according to their understanding of the staff person’s position and role within the School.

The term ‘care staff’ is used for the purpose of this Report to describe religious and lay staff whose main contact with the witnesses was in the context of their everyday care. Those described above as care staff were in charge of the dormitories and activities of daily living such as washing, dressing, meals and recreation. Care staff were described as having a more supervisory function and the ancillary workers were described as having designated tasks such as working in the laundries, kitchens or the Schools’ grounds and farms. Witnesses generally believed that care staff employed in the Schools prior to the 1970s did not have professional training and reported that a small number were ex-residents of the Schools. Authority figures were generally religious staff who held what were perceived by the witnesses to be positions of authority. They were described as ‘in charge’, Officer in Charge, Sister in Charge, Reverend Mother or Resident Manger. The external male clergy who were described as physically abusive were reported to be priests and others of higher rank who at times provided a pastoral service to the School.

Witnesses named 241 religious Sisters and four members of the clergy as physically abusive. The Committee heard evidence about a small number of Schools where named religious staff were reported as physically abusive by many different witnesses and in other Schools single witness reports were heard about many named abusers. For example, three Schools were the subject of 144 (38%) physical abuse reports, 72 of which were made in relation to two Sisters. Four (4) Sisters were named as physical abusers by 125 witnesses. Seventy six (76) Sisters were named as physical abusers by between 2-9 witnesses. Five (5) Sisters were named as physical abusers by between 10-20 witnesses. One hundred and sixty (160) religious, 156 Sisters and four members of the clergy, were named as physical abusers in single witness accounts.