The Royal Commission sought to hear the voices of survivors of abuse and neglect in State care and the care of faith-based institutions, who were incarcerated, so All is for All alongside Tim McKinnel and members of the Inquiry secretariat, organised and conducted a series of engagements with incarcerated survivors. These engagements were some of the most important work, I've had the privilege of being a part of.
Survivors, in prisons across Aotearoa set the agenda for the discussion. Our role was to build trust and foster discussion among survivors, acknowledging the restricted autonomy over decision-making in prison settings, which makes it all the more important that incarcerated survivors choose, and drive, the shape of the kōrero. Wellbeing support was present at all engagements.
We ended up hearing from 98 incarcerated individuals in five prisons. The participants included both men and women, and individuals identifying as Māori, Pacific, and European. 17% of people that we talked to had a known long term disability or impairment.
Participants shared experiences of abuse and neglect in various care settings, including State care and faith-based institutions. Our role was to hear from people in prison, and then draft these findings for the Inquiry - the Inquiry then took what was heard, iterated it, and formatted a document. Some of what we heard is now published.
Incarcerated survivor voice is a really critical lens and we are so proud to have helped amplify it.
Some of what survivors shared is below.
“When you’re taken away at seven, if you’re brown, you have to go, if you’re white you get to stay and then you’re abused, finally as you grow up you have a voice. But I still get slammed. I came [into prison] in 2004, I get told sometimes I have to bring back my voice [be less vocal]. I have had two Paroles, with an all-white decision-making panel. Having a voice goes against you. My assertiveness is taken wrongly by officers, how am I supposed to use my voice when it is used against me or misinterpreted? Corrections needs to learn how to know women who have a voice, I don’t like to be shut down.”
“Trauma, let me tell you about Trauma. He’s an expert by the time he is five years old, he’s smashed around like a pinball machine; what is the State going to do to identify that little boy who’d go on to hurt every woman he has a relationship with. Today, I still carry that five-year- old boy. Believing the angrier I get the safer I’ll be.”
“I’m totally responsible for my actions, but my propensity to violence is a default because of the historical trauma.”
“We had no trust, we built hatred for authority because that’s all we’ve known and experienced.”
“My school books did not have any writing in them, they had tears...”
“What crime did I commit at nine years old, being taken away from my family.”
“I have been in and out of prison since I was a teenager. I want to share my experience because I want to warn the youth about what can happen if you end up in the prison system for most of your life. I want to help the youth understand the importance of making good decisions when you are outside of prison and to gain good supports when you are on the outside, so you can keep out of prison…”
“Don't give up on kids, no matter how complex they are, Stick with them. I want to, I pine to see my family and have a relationship with them, to love…”
“I wanted to raise my daughter in such a way that she was fearless. I wanted her to feel like she could do anything in the world . I would feel so much pride watching her climb to the highest slide and trying all sorts of different and new things. That has been one of the many impacts of the things I have suffered. I tried so hard to make sure my daughter was not exposed to the same things that I was. But she has been...”
If you would like to read the report it is on the Inquiry's website as both a PDF and a word document. We are incredibly grateful to the survivors, to Corrections, Tim McKinnel and Fete Taito of the Royal Commission for their work to make this report possible.
The engagement strategy and community engagement work that All is for All does is something we are so proud of. There is nothing more important than bringing marginalised voices to the centre. Solutions and work are stronger when we hear from everyone in our community.
The artwork used on the document for this work is by Home Ground. The artist has lived experience of the justice system. She says about the work: “Hold onto home when you’re in jail, hold onto femininity – it gets lost in the grey. Crying is cleansing. Wear your crown even if it’s a shitty one. Look beyond where you are, to a higher power and a higher self, keep your dreams alive.”
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