Abusers: ‘They make me feel sick’
There’s no worse feeling than ending a child’s life, says Children’s Commissioner. Jo Moir reports.
Russell Wills knows what it’s like to end the life of a child bashed to near death and suffering traumatic brain injuries.
Through tears, the paediatrician and outgoing Children’s Commissioner says there is ‘‘no worse feeling in the world’’ than turning off a ventilator.
He can’t work out why communities still accept violence by men against women and children.
It’s 10 years since the highprofile killing of the Kahui twins, but little has changed.
The death of every child through abuse and neglect was a ‘‘preventable tragedy’’. ‘‘They make me feel sick.’’ The 2006 deaths of 11-week-old Chris and Cru Kahui shocked and revolted the nation – who or what caused their serious head injuries and broken bones remains unknown. The decade anniversary of their deaths fell yesterday, and there have been numerous similar cases in the years since. Wills says the country can invest in a bigger workforce at Child, Youth and Family and better sharing of information, but on its own it’s not enough.
‘‘I want more men comfortable to sit down with their own family and friends and neighbours and say, ‘your children are scared of you, your wife is scared of you, and that’s not OK’.
‘‘We still have families and whanau who tolerate violence towards women and children.’’
After five years in the job Wills is preparing to return home fulltime to Hawke’s Bay but he still can’t understand why the Government won’t put a plan in place to fix child poverty.
‘‘We’re a country who has other people’s kids round to play and we feed them and we love them and we send them home at tea time.’’
The solution? A deafening chorus of Kiwis demanding the Government do more to address a lack of social housing and child poverty. The polls says the public care about it and that’s who will translate it into policy, he says.
‘‘When the prime minister and Paula Bennett and I were young it was perfectly possible and in fact quite common to be born poor and succeed.
‘‘No one wore shoes in summer time but everyone had lunch.’’
But Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says a specific plan for child poverty is the ‘‘wrong vehicle’’.
‘‘The Government has a very clear plan to lift families out of poverty, which is focussed on economic growth. We know the way out of poverty is into work.’’
She agrees with Wills that whole communities have to stand up against child abuse.
‘‘It appalls me that some people still think it’s OK for a big, grown adult to physically abuse a poor, innocent, vulnerable, young, small child,’’ says Tolley. ‘‘It defies logic.’’ Advocating for the country’s most vulnerable has been an ‘‘extraordinary privilege’’ for Wills, who says he has ‘‘shamefully neglected’’ his own family and friends.
Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft takes over the role on July 1.