Gloriavale resident often hungry
Pearl Valor has given further evidence in court about her time at the controversial Gloriavale community — breaking down in tears as she recalled being hungry, stealing food and being refused dental treatment.
But despite all of that she stayed, the guilt of what would happen if she left too great for her to escape.
“No matter how hard life was, I can’t leave my work,” she said.
Valor began giving evidence in the Employment Court about her Gloriavale experience this week.
Yesterday afternoon she took the stand to continue speaking about her life in court.
“Women are valuable for two things — working hard, usually at the expense of your own health and family,” she said of Gloriavale. “And having babies.
“The attitude of leaders to me as a woman can be summed up in one story — I had damaged a library book and had to pay $20.
“I went to the office and asked for $20 and they only had a $50 note and they would not give it to me as I could not be trusted to bring back $30. That is that nature of the place — they trust you to have children but not to bring back change.”
Valor is well known for appearing in a TVNZ docuseries about Gloriavale that featured her wedding to husband Paul.
She has now left the community and is joining five other former members, Rose Standtrue, Serenity Pilgrim, Anna Courage, Crystal Loyal and Virginia Courage in seeking a legal ruling that they were employees and not volunteers at Gloriavale. The women say they were effectively born into and kept in “servitude” — which is illegal in New Zealand — forced to work long days with no breaks and very little food or water.
Their case follows a similar action by a group of former Gloriavale men who the court ruled were employees from when they were just 6.
Yesterday the court heard that Valor would get up at 2am to complete her work some days — fearing what may happen if she left anything unfinished.
She had to stop working when her husband became sick and was made to feel like the family were “living on charity”.