Institutional abuse survivors criticise support scheme CEO
Survivors of institutional abuse have criticised the CEO of the support scheme set up to help survivors over controversial remarks made last year.
Caranua's Mary Higgins withdrew her comments unreservedly after saying: "These people are damaged. The hole in them cannot be filled by what we do, unfortunately."
A new survivor-led group, RISN, said they will no longer be gagged or silenced and have spoken publicly about these comments and how they affected them.
Co-founder William Gorry said all survivors deserve to be supported and try to achieve happiness.
"When she says that 'these people', like, 'these people' - we all have a name. We're all human," he said.
"When she says that someone has a 'hole in them', imagine the way that survivor's have been traumatised and what they have endured as in sexual abuse and think of someone saying there's a 'hole in them' - it is horrific," he added.
