Male Survivors Taranaki

Male Survivors Taranaki

Dilworth School sex abuse: Former teacher Robert Wynyard, 74, sentenced to prison

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A 74-year-old former Dilworth teacher and housemaster has been sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for historic sexual abuse of students in the early 1980s, as well as abuse of children after his tenure at the Auckland boarding school.

Robert Howard Gladwin Wynyard used a cane for support as he stood before Justice Simon Moore today in the High Court at Auckland, nearly 10 months after he pleaded guilty to 11 charges involving children who were between the ages of 8 and 15 when they were groomed.

He later sat stone-faced as prosecutors read aloud victim impact statements from seven of his eight victims, one of whom described him as a “dirty paedo who took advantage of vulnerable kids” and another who described stabbing himself in the stomach with a steak knife at the age of 16 due to the emotional trauma that the teacher had inflicted on him.

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Flood news ‘silver lining’ for school: principal

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A leaked email has revealed a Dunedin principal said a silver lining to the deadly Auckland floods was keeping a story about her school off the front page.

A pre-dawn blessing was held at Trinity Catholic College on January 28, to mark a new era for the school after changing its name from Kavanagh College.

It followed a 2020 investigation into former Bishop of Dunedin John Kavanagh, after whom the school was named.

The blessing was attended by staff, pupils, survivors and members of the community.

The Otago Daily Times attended with permission from Bishop Michael Dooley.

However, in a leaked email informing staff about impending media coverage of the blessing, Kate Nicholson wrote that she was unsure what “slant” the reporting would take, but “at least Auckland’s terrible weekend is likely to keep us off the front page — a silver lining hopefully”.

The email was sent the day after the blessing, when Auckland was still being battered by historic flooding.

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A new dawn and new era for college

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As a new day dawned over Trinity Catholic College, it was hoped the first rays of light also marked the start of a new chapter for the troubled Dunedin high school.

About 20 pupils, survivors of sexual abuse, and members of the community gathered at the school at 5am on Saturday for a blessing to mark the start of the first school year under its new name.

The former Kavanagh College became Trinity Catholic College on January 1, following years of lobbying from abuse survivors.

The new name was chosen following an inquiry last year which concluded that the late Bishop John Kavanagh, after whom the college was named, did not act on a complaint of abuse when he was Bishop of Dunedin from 1957 to 1985.

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Blessing of school to mark new beginnings

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A blessing is set to signal the start of a new chapter at a Dunedin school with a dark past.

The Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, Bishop Michael Dooley, will perform a pre-dawn blessing of the renamed Trinity Catholic College this Saturday, accompanied by the college kaumatua.

The former Kavanagh College became Trinity Catholic College on January 1, following years of lobbying from survivors of sexual abuse.

The new name was chosen following an inquiry last year which concluded that the late Bishop John Kavanagh, after whom the college was named, did not act on a complaint of abuse when he was Bishop of Dunedin from 1957 to 1985.

In consultation with the school community, Bishop Dooley decided to rename the school Trinity Catholic College.

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Waihi dad shares story of sexual violence with other Bay survivors

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Thirty years on from the first time he was raped, Sam Troth regularly wakes up at night crying and with cold sweats.

But after three years of counselling, the Waihi father of six is more than halfway through his mission of walking across New Zealand encouraging other men to speak about sexual violence.

Troth, 39, shared his story with other men during a barbecue on Friday at Male Survivors Bay of Plenty – a place where he receives regular counselling support.

His mission to walk the length of the country started in Bluff on October 24, eager to generate conversations about male sexual violence and show others his vulnerable side. He expected to finish the walk in Cape Reinga on December 30.

I am owning my past and saying it’s okay. And it’s a good feeling because it’s helping other people do the same.

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Exploring male childhood sexual abuse survivors’ experiences of specialist counselling services

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Global estimates suggest 5% to 10% of men report experience of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, male CSA is significantly underreported, with men being reluctant to disclose due to vulnerability, stigmatisation, homophobic responses and fearing a loss of masculinity.

A lack of research and service provision targeted towards men suggests male survivors of CSA are marginalised. This qualitative study, using a narrative approach, focussed on four adult male survivors of CSA. The aim of the study was to explore their experiences of engaging in counselling and support services for CSA from nonstatutory and voluntary organisations. Face-to-face narrative interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Analysis was undertaken using a two-phase approach; first, each narrative was analysed as a whole; second, an across-transcripts analysis was carried out to identify shared themes and divergences that emerged from the individual stories. In this paper, findings from the second phase of the analysis are presented. Three themes regarding male survivors’ experiences of specialist counselling services were identified: “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor,” “Trust me, I’m a Counsellor” and “Counsellor or Mother?”

This is the first academic study focussing specifically on men’s experience of support for CSA in the UK from a service user perspective. Making an original contribution to the knowledge base regarding counselling experiences and the effectiveness of therapy for male CSA survivors, it will help to inform professional counselling services which are likely to come into contact with male survivors of CSA.

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Sexual violence against males common, but still taboo says survivor

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The journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga is long – almost three million steps – but the road to healing from sexual abuse has felt a lot longer for a father of six who was raped over a period of several years by a family friend.

Sam Troth has embarked on a solo walk from the south of Aotearoa to the north, which will take him 55 days to complete.

But it is not a long time for the 39-year-old Bay of Plenty man who took 25 years to speak out about how he was repeatedly raped and violated, and psychologically manipulated by an adult male who was a close acquaintance of his family.

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