***Distressing content warning***

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Presentation starts at 17:30

Dallas is a survivor of abuse in State care. At birth, Dallas was placed for adoption.  Dallas’s birth father was Māori and he was not told of her existence. Under the Adoption Act 1955, the State put Dallas into a closed stranger adoption placement with a white middle class Pākeha family. In her adoptive family Dallas was neglected, ill-treated, malnourished and abused. Social workers then placed Dallas in a foster home. During her childhood Dallas was shifted to multiple foster homes, family group homes, and despite the social workers knowing about the abuse, she was still returned to her adoptive family home a number of times during this period. Dallas suffered physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect in these various homes. She has since managed to gain qualifications and has worked in the area of social work for a number of years. Dallas wanted to share her experiences with the Royal Commission, with the hope that the children of New Zealand do not have the childhood that she did.