203. The Inquiry finds:

Circumstances that led to individuals being taken or placed into care

1. There were different pathways for Deaf children and young people to come into the care of Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf, including:

a. Some were sent by whānau to attend the schools by day or to board on the advice of educators and medical professionals.
b. Many experienced a lack of support from mainstream schools and a lack of support for whānau to educate Deaf children and young people at home. This led to them boarding or attending by day and some whānau having to move to live closer to the schools.
c. Kelston in particular had a high proportion enrolments of Māori and Pacific Peoples children and young people as students. For Māori this was likely due to poor health access and outcomes during outbreaks of childhood illnesses.
d. The State failed to engage with and properly support hāpori and whānau Māori to educate and care for tāngata Turi Māori at home.
e. Some Deaf children and young people were brought from the Pacific Islands to be educated as boardering students at Kelston rather than being supported and educated at home.
f. A higher proportion of boarders at Kelston were children and young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds attended as boarding students at Kelston in particular.

Nature and extent of abuse and neglect

2. Deaf children and young people suffered abuse and neglect at Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf in various forms.

3. Physical violence was normalised and pervasive. Some Deaf children and young people experienced regular physical abuse from teaching staff and hostel staff (for boarders), including to a degree and extent outside the acceptable corporal punishment standards of the day.

4. Some Deaf children and young people experienced physical abuse from peers and staff failed to protect them.

5. Sexual abuse was pervasive. Some Deaf children and young people were raped and sexually abused by staff and older peers. Boarders were particularly at risk of sexual abuse in the boarding hostels due to the unsupervised environment. Some survivors were sexually assaulted by peers in front of staff, who did nothing.

6. Some Deaf children and young people experienced verbal and psychological abuse from teaching and hostel staff and from their peers, which was often discriminatory, humiliating and degrading.

7. All Deaf children and young people experienced linguistic abuse and neglect and language suppression. Deaf children and young people were banned from using Sign Language at school and forced to learn by oral methods. Deaf children and young people were punished for using Sign Language. Deaf culture and identity were not supported.

8. Tāngata Turi Māori experienced racial abuse from staff and their culture was neglected. This was a transgression against whakapapa.

9. Tāngata Turi Māori experienced double discrimination with disconnection from Deaf culture and language, and from te tikanga and te reo Māori. Tāngata Turi Māori were not educated on te ao Māori concepts (including tikanga, te reo and matauranga Māori) through sign. They experienced racism from teaching staff, and in some cases from their peers. There was a lack of Māori teaching staff at the deaf schools, which were governed and operated by mostly hearing Pākehā teachers.

10. Deaf Pacific children and young people experienced similar racism and double discrimination.

11. Most Deaf children and young people received an inadequate education and had limited opportunities to develop academically.

12. Deaf children and young people with other disabilities received insufficient training and education for their needs.

Impacts of abuse and neglect

13. The abuse and neglect at Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf harmed Deaf survivors’ physical and mental health, their psychological, emotional, cultural and spiritual wellbeing, and their educational and economic prospects.

14. Separation from whānau at a young age and the resulting lack of attachment created issues such as separation anxiety, loss of cultural connection and mental distress for Deaf survivors.

15. Barriers to learning due to being taught by oral methods and Total Communication resulted in limited academic achievement because of inadequate education provided at the deaf schools.

16. Tāngata Turi Māori experienced a lack of access to their culture and identity. This diminished their mana and was also a transgression against their whakapapa.

17. A lack of qualifications, discrimination and language barriers meant that Deaf survivors faced barriers to employment.

18. Some survivors found themselves in the criminal justice system or gangs due to the ongoing impact of the abuse, neglect and trauma they experienced at the deaf schools.

19. Few Deaf survivors received redress, counselling or rehabilitation for the physical and sexual abuse they endured and were therefore less prepared to thrive as adults.

20. The harm to Deaf survivors has been transferred over generations.

Factors that caused or contributed to abuse and neglect 

21. The following personal factors caused or contributed to abuse and neglect of children and young people at Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf:

a. Abuse was carried out by staff who exploited the power imbalance they had over the Deaf children and young people in their care.
b. Abuse was carried out some older peers who exploited the power imbalance they had over some of the younger Deaf children and young people.
c. Disconnection from whānau at a young age and the absence of positive family and Deaf role models, together with no day-to-day love and care from family, contributed to older individuals abusing younger Deaf children and young people.
d. Some survivors were abused in the presence of or with the knowledge of bystanders who were staff, who did nothing to stop the abuse or neglect.

22. The following institutional factors caused or contributed to abuse and neglect at Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf:

a. Deaf culture and Sign Language were denied through the mandated oral approach to education.
b. Deaf people were not involved in school leadership or decision-making positions at the schools to shape the education of Deaf children.
c. Families and whānau were not supported to learn to communicate through Sign Language with their Deaf child, and to understand Deaf culture.
d. The schools were understaffed. There was a high turnover and many staff lacked relevant qualifications and expertise and were not properly trained for their positions of trust. There were no vetting procedures for staff.
e. Māori did not receive funding or support to provide care for tāngata Turi Māori in te ao Māori ways in the community.
f. Racism toward tāngata Turi Māori meant they suffered more abuse and neglect than their Pākehā peers.
g. Survivors were unable to communicate abuse and neglect due to the denial of Sign Language, and a lack of education on sex and sexual abuse.
h. Inadequate complaint policies and practices led to inadequate responses to abuse and neglect, and likely contributed to the underreporting of abuse and neglect.
i. There were barriers for Deaf children and young people to make complaints, including not having the language to complain to family and school management.
j. Abuse and neglect were seldom reported by management or staff to NZ Police. When abuse and neglect was reported, NZ Police failed to carry out adequate and timely investigations.
k. Insufficient staff supervision of the boarding hostels led to prevalent abuse and neglect in that environment.

23. The following structural, systemic, practical and societal factors caused or contributed to abuse and neglect at Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf:

a. State policy emphasis on institutionalisation for Deaf education, and insufficient oversight and monitoring by the Department of Education and its Special Education Unit, contributed to abuse and educational neglect occurring and continuing at the deaf schools.
b. Audist views contributed to Deaf children, young people and adults being viewed by society as having a deficit and being unproductive. These views continued inside the deaf schools with discrimination and abuse against Deaf children and young people because they could not communicate orally.
c. There was a lack of diversity among the governance, management and staff at the deaf schools, which were predominantly hearing Pākehā with no lived experience of being Deaf.
d. Societal attitudes that were ignorant of te Tiriti o Waitangi were present in the deaf schools where Māori cultural identities, heritage and language were not recognised.