A social worker and abuse survivor says a revelation that up to a quarter of a million New Zealanders were abused in State and religious care, underestimates the true extent.
The information comes from an interim report by the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care It says that of the 655-thousand young people in care between 1950 and 2019, nearly 40 percent were abused.
The Commission Chair, Coral Shaw, describes the economic cost to society of as much as $217-billion, as eye-watering.
Māori make up a large proportion of children in state care, and Oranga Tamariki statistics show 80 percent of children abused in care are Māori.
Māni Dunlop spoke to abuse survivor Paora Crawford Moyle.