NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
TALIA SHADWELL AND SHANE COWLISHAW
May 15 2016
Every surface in Sonja Cooper’s Wellington office is swamped with boxes full of secrets.
Each wall is lined with folders, and her shelves are stacked with cartons full of the worst memories of more than 700 New Zealanders’ lives.
But the human rights lawyer cannot talk about what’s in the boxes.
Inside are private records, horror stories, accusations.
The hundreds of victims whose complaints Cooper’s legal firm on the Terrace is handling all claim to have suffered abuse while in state care sometime between the 1940s and 1993.
Talk about them is strictly off the table while the practice heads into a crucial stage of litigation with the Ministry of Social Development.
But Cooper can reveal some of the claims of abuse in children’s homes and orphanages include accusations against clergy members in church-run accommodation administered by the state – which is vicariously liable.
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