New Zealand will provide financial compensation to children and teenagers who were abused at a state psychiatric hospital in the 1970s.
Reuters writes about this.
An investigation published in July found that 362 children who did not have any mental illness were subjected to unmodified electroconvulsive therapy or paraldehyde injections at the child and adolescent unit of Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital between 1972 and 1978.
Children and adolescents were also treated cruelly to punish and establish emotional control over them.
Compensation for survivors would consist of three parts: a lump sum payment, new written apologies acknowledging the torture, and easier access to support and rehabilitation services.
Victims will be able to choose an accelerated payment of 150 000 New Zealand dollars ($86 205) or have their individual claim assessed by an independent arbitrator, who will determine the amount.
The government said it had allocated 22.68 million New Zealand dollars ($13 million) for compensation and operational costs associated with the process.
What preceded
In July, New Zealand authorities released a report detailing systemic abuse and violence against children, adolescents and vulnerable adults in government care, involving nearly 200 000 victims.
The investigation covers the period from 1950 to 2019 and focuses on people who were held in orphanages, foster homes, psychiatric and other care institutions. The commission gathered evidence that the victims were sexually abused and beaten, subjected to lobotomies, sterilization, invasive genital examinations and experimental psychiatric treatments without their consent.
Many of those affected by violence come from disadvantaged or marginalised communities, including Māori and Pacific people and people with disabilities.
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