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Gwyneth Beard, also known as Piwi is 59 and went into care from the age of 11.
Gwyneth Beard.
Photo: RNZ
Most of the time was spent at the Strathmore Girls Home in Christchurch, but she also spent some time in the Kingslea Home in the same city and a short time at Weymouth in Auckland.
She ended up in care after running away from home.
She describes her time in the secure unit at Strathmore as incarceration. It was like I have been locked up. I was only a child. I look out at my mokos now and wonder if anyone locked my mokos up at that age. There s no nationality behind it, that you should be locking children up.
Most of her time at Strathmore was spent locked up in a cell because Beard tried to run away too often. “All there was to do in the cells was sit there and wonder why you were there. I was never given any books or anything to do,” she said. She recalled an incident where the principal beat her with the pipe of a vacuum cleaner after she swore when she stubbed her toe. Beard said the worst thing about Strathmore was the medical examinations. Her legs were strapped into stirrups and a female staff member would hold her down, while the doctor performed an invasive examination to check for sexual diseases.
Abuse in state care: Survivor calls her time at Strathmore Girls Home as incarceration
6 May, 2021 08:21 PM
5 minutes to read
This story discusses graphic details of sexual violence.
Gwyneth Beard, also known as Piwi, is 59 and went into care from the age of 11.
Most of the time was spent at the Strathmore Girls Home in Christchurch, but she also spent some time in the Kingslea Home in the same city and a short time at Weymouth in Auckland.
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Yesterday she gave evidence before the Abuse in State Residential Homes hearing.
She describes her time in the secure unit at Strathmore as incarceration.