Abused children's story has no happy ending

ANDREA VANCE

When most children turn five, it's a day of balloons, presents and party food. They excitedly blow out their candles, and head off for their first day at school, backpacks brimming with shiny new pencil cases and notebooks.

But Chris and Cru Kahui will not reach their fifth birthday tomorrow, let alone have a party.

Like Nia Glassie, 11-week-old Tahani Mahomed and seven-year-old Duwayne Pailegutu, the twins spent the final few days of their short lives dying in a hospital ward.

Their deaths – which remain unsolved – sickened New Zealanders. At once, the nation seemed to wake up to the horrific levels of violence inflicted on children and there were angry demands for action.

Just over a year after the Kahui twins shocked the nation, there was a new poster child for abuse.

Over three weeks, three-year-old Nia was kicked, beaten, held over a fire, put into a spinning clothes dryer, pushed into piles of rubbish, thrown against a wall, dropped to the floor and hung from a rotary clothes line – all by members of her household. Her death caused another outcry.

Less than six months later, 11-week-old Tahani Mahomed was dead. Her father twisted her leg so violently it snapped. She was starved and left in a hot car for hours. One blow to the head left her unable to breathe properly, paralysed and blind. Finally, her father killed her with a second whack to the head.

Six months after her killing, Duwayne Pailegutu forgot to bring his jersey home from school. So his stepfather, Johnny Pukerua Joachim, beat him viciously with a cricket stump and kicked him repeatedly. He threw him against a wall and over the next eight days applied pressure to his torso to make him vomit, his "treatment" for the internal bleeding he had inflicted.

After more than a week Duwayne died from inhalation of blood to his lungs and slow asphyxiation. His body had 75 external injuries, and scalds from where Joachim tried to shock him with hot and cold water.

Then came 2009 – when 16 children died at the hands of those who were supposed to be keeping them safe. The roll call is heartbreaking. Cherish Tahuri-Wright, killed by her grandmother. Six-week-old Jayrhis Tata-Lock, shaken to death by his dad. Baby Trent Matthews, who died after his foster mum hit him hard on the head and angrily shook him because he was crying. Two-year-old Karl Perigo-Check kicked to death by his babysitter.

On average 10 children a year are killed by a family member. Some experts believe as many as 40 children a year are killed by injuries inflicted by people caring for them.

But it is no longer New Zealand's secret shame. Since the murder of the Kahui twins, the government under both Labour and National, agencies, and non-governmental agencies have made huge strides in overhauling the system.

Measures introduced in September 2009 included the confronting "Never Ever Shake a Baby" multimedia campaign and saw social workers stationed in every main hospital. It also required Child, Youth and Family, police, health and social agencies to make plans for all abused children leaving hospital, and established an experts forum.

The so-called anti-smacking law and subsequent referendum saw a growing acknowledgement that physical punishment was an ineffective way to discipline children. The "It's Not OK" domestic violence campaign was launched in 2007 and is still running.

Last year police and CYF signed a memorandum of understanding which will see them share information and work together on child-abuse cases.

In April the Cabinet will consider a new "failing to protect" law, which will make it a crime to fail to report violence in your household, and tougher penalties for child abuse. The legislation is likely to pass before November's election.

But CYF saw a steady increase in the number of "reports of concern" received in the past five years. In 2006 there were 62,739 such reports, of which 46,541 needed further action. In 2010 this had risen to 124,921 with 55,494 needing action. This rise partly reflects increased awareness and a willingness to report abuse.

Before Christmas a shocking case emerged in South Auckland. A nine-year-old girl was found cowering in a wardrobe in November with injuries to almost every part of her body.

And in February, the United Nations said it remained alarmed about discrimination, abuse, child labour and juvenile justice problems here. It did, however, acknowledge the changes made to tackle the problem.

So has New Zealand hit a brick wall when it comes to abuse and neglect?

Child Matters chief executive Anthea Simcock points out that last year there was a child aged under two admitted to hospital every five days with a preventable injury.

The Hamilton-based charity is dedicated to preventing harm to children.

"We are not seeing the drop yet. Sometimes I feel like our work here is trying to fill the holes in the dyke, and when we do the water is coming around the end."

Her fears are echoed by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett. "There's not a week that goes by in my job that I don't deal with what I would term as a horrific case of abuse of children. And that is the unfortunate reality. Every single one of them upsets me, it seriously does.

"It makes me determined ... Because I realised pretty quickly there's no silver bullet. I can't do one thing so it has to be steps in the right direction."

LABOUR deputy leader Annette King says the most worrying increase is in cases of re-abuse. In the past year the rate of substantiated child abuse or neglect within six months of previous abuse has risen from 1.77 occurrences per 1000 children to 2.21.

"[That's] the one that I think really says it all. Have things got better? If you look at the facts then you would have to say no they have not. I think we should be ashamed of that."

Children's Commissioner John Angus says society has always been horrified by disturbing instances of abuse – but now people are more likely to report it.

"It's hard to say we are more aware of it than when I was a social worker 20 years ago. I think there is generally a greater awareness to report violence within families. Anecdotally I hear, by talking to social service organisations, that ... people are more likely to talk to them about violence going on in family situations and they refer to the It's Not OK campaign.

"The section 59 discussion, I think, too has led to more members of the public empowered to intervene when they see children getting maltreated."

Mrs Simcock wants to see a national plan of action – and a Ministry for Children. "We have some blind spots about children. We've got the commissioner with much fewer powers. This ministry would be able to span health, education, social services, the whole wellbeing of the child."

The idea has the backing of Ms King.

"You need to have a voice at the top table of government to give leadership, policy direction and to help link up all the agencies that deal with children's issues. [Now] it is splintered and silo-ed and no-one takes responsibility."

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child identified a lack of a comprehensive national strategy for children, Ms King said.

"You've got to have policy that starts at the beginning, dealing with children before birth if possible. You can ... identify what early intervention is needed."

Ms Bennett says she saw the "merits" of such a policy in a visit to Britain.

Mrs Simcock also believes all health professionals, teachers – and even child leaders and sports coaches – should be trained to recognise the signs of abuse.

"I would love to see legislation that you don't get your registration as a teacher until you've got some child-protection training."

This would negate the need for mandatory reporting of abuse, Mrs Simcock said.

At the recent inquest into the death of the Kahui twins, Coroner Garry Evans questioned whether health professionals should be obliged to report suspected abuse.

"If everyone was trained you wouldn't actually need mandatory reporting because [it would be] so deeply ingrained, that it's their responsibility."

Mrs Simcock also wants to see the wider implementation of parenting classes. "If a parent understands their child's behaviour they are less likely to abuse them. If you look at some of the figures for the little ones who have been kicked to death ... people lose control over unrealistic expectations of children."

"Let's assume that every parent in New Zealand could do with some parenting help," Ms King says. "Life's changed. Many people don't pick up parenting skills from their parents any more. Parenting assistance should be universally available."

She would also like to see a cross-party "commitment to children" and policy "we can agree on" for children. "I know that that's a faint hope."

ACT MP Heather Roy dismissed this idea in a speech to her party conference last weekend.

"After a particularly horrifying series of murders the Helen Clark ... government convened a cross-party working group to look at the issues, but achieved nothing ... in reality a multi-party group just diffuses responsibility."

Dr Angus's main concern is neglect. "Neglect of their needs to be kept safe and secure, of very young children to be supervised. To be kept safe and secure from hazards around the house. To have their illnesses and injuries well treated. To have their emotional needs for a bit of consistent love and stability met.

"That's a category of mistreatment that is found much more commonly than the gross physical abuse that was inflicted on the Kahui twins."

Those essentials often aren't present because of drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems, or poverty in the home, Dr Angus says.

"The number of very young children – I'm talking about babies and infants – in that situation, that's the area of child abuse and neglect that worries me the most. And it's because of the scale of it."

The two major types of abuse are neglect and emotional abuse, Mrs Simcock agrees.

"Neglect puts children at huge risk – at risk of paedophiles if they are not being watched, at risk of having accidents, not getting an education, not meeting nutritional needs."

But even if all the identified problems are addressed, experts admit this might not be enough to stop a child dying.

"I think the worst week in my job was, when I had been here ... about three months, and I spoke to a very senior practitioner ... He sat here in my office and just said, `You will never stop the worst abuse,"' Ms Bennett says.

"We're not in everybody's home, because we can't control what happens in that house. I'm not sure I completely agree with him. Because I have to get up every day and believe that we can."

Societal attitudes will have to change. "Sometimes it's a really hard story to sell to the public," Ms Bennett says.

"This sort of baffled me in the first 12 months. I would go and speak at a meeting [and] if I speak on welfare, I have a line running out the door afterwards of people wanting to tell me their opinion ... When I give a speech on abuse and neglect ... no-one speaks to me afterwards."

Mrs Simcock says the family violence focus is primarily on adults. "We don't talk about child abuse. [And] there's a lot more emphasis on parents' rights."

The anti-smacking law had made people more aware of the differences between discipline and abuse.

"But I don't think it's been in long enough to affect the child abuse rates. We are not seeing the drop yet. It may be a generational thing that's come through saying you shouldn't hit children."

And she adds: "While legislation can reinforce our beliefs it is really society's values that are going to be just as powerful."

Ms King says it is a much bigger issue than for "just a government or a parliament".

"This isn't about blaming a government for not fixing child abuse. It is a an entire community's response.

"We say that this is the best place in the world to bring up kids but ... I'm sick of all the rhetoric `children are our future, children are so valuable'. That has to be turned into words by all of us including parents of children and the community that lives beside them."

Dr Angus agrees there must be a shift in how the problem is viewed.

"Children aren't voters. Politicians are naturally inclined to be very aware about who is going to win and lose from a policy. Who is going to like them and who is not going to like them. Children don't vote, so I think we need to pay particular attention to ... are children going to be winners and losers out of these changes."

But he argues the future for New Zealand's ill-treated children isn't all gloomy.

"I get worried that too often our response to ... the grossest case of physical or sexual abuse [is] we all say how terrible this is. And then it passes, until there is another episode. I think that sometimes leaves people thinking that they can't do anything about it. That's quite wrong – we should feel optimistic about our ability to treat children better ... and to reduce the incidents of child abuse."

RECORD OF SHAME

New Zealand has the fifth-worst child abuse record out of 31 OECD countries.

On average, one child is killed every five weeks.

Most of these children are under five and the largest group is less than a year old.

Ninety per cent of all child deaths are caused by someone the child knows.

Nearly 9000 children a year are born "at risk" (1 in every 30).

124,921 notifications were made to Child, Youth and Family in the year to June 2010.

Child abuse costs New Zealand about $2 billion each year.

Studies have found abused and neglected children to be at least 25 per cent more likely to experience difficulties such as delinquency, teenage pregnancy, low academic achievement, drug use and mental health problems.

Source: Child Matters

THEY SAY

Anthea Simcock

Child Matters chief executive

"Sometimes I feel like our work here is trying to fill the holes in the dyke, and when we do the water is coming around the end."

Paula Bennett

Social Development Minister

"There's not a week that goes by in my job that I don't deal with what I would term as a horrific case of abuse of children. And that is the unfortunate reality."

Annette King

Labour deputy leader

"Have things got better? If you look at the facts, then you would have to say no, they have not. I think we should be ashamed of that."

John Angus

Children's Commissioner

"The number of very young children – I'm talking about babies and infants – in that situation, that's the area of child abuse and neglect that worries me the most."

- © Fairfax NZ News