Children share confronting experiences with South Australia Royal Commission

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A warning some viewers may find this report distressing. South Australian children have described being beaten, imprisoned in their homes and made to feel "unloved" in a confronting report released by the state's Domestic Violence Royal Commission. The report's author says children who experience domestic violence deserve better support.

Transcript

00:00I'm not very loved. That's what one 16-year-old boy reportedly told South Australia's Domestic

00:08Violence Royal Commission. He's one of 53 teenagers aged between 13 and 18 who shared

00:15their experiences of being physically, sexually and emotionally abused. In harrowing accounts,

00:21the young people described being hit, slapped, pushed, belittled, threatened and gaslit

00:27by family members. One girl was quoted saying she had to stay home from school for a week

00:33after she was injured because her parents didn't want to ruin their image. Another boy

00:38said when he was eight, his parents stripped his bedroom as punishment for him kicking a

00:43wall. He told the commission, I got water brought to me, food brought to me three times a day.

00:49They said, you have abused this home. It was a loving place and you've abused it. So when

00:55people do things wrong, they go to prison. The report's author Kate Fitzgibbon says there's

01:00a lack of youth specific support for children who experience violence and often when they

01:05try to disclose abuse, they feel ignored, dismissed and scared of retaliation.

01:11So many of the young victim survivors that I spoke with described that incredible point

01:17of courage for them when they sought help and being met with disbelief.

01:22I don't think anyone reading some of these remarks and circumstances can be anything but moved

01:29and actually shamed.

01:31All up, just under 300 children have been consulted by the Royal Commission. Ms. Stott Despoja will

01:37hand down her final report with recommendations next month.

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