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There were two hundred and eighty-one
(281) accounts of physical abuse involving thirtyfive (35) institutions.
Witnesses described becoming accustomed to being hit as staff passed by, or
in the classroom, as their daily lot and believed that life everywhere was
like that. The complaints most often made to the Confidential Committee
concerned the more extreme beatings witnesses were subjected to, or those
that they were made to witness. Witnesses reported that they were hit on all
areas of the body: the fingers, hands, wrists, shoulders, ears, face, head,
trunk, feet, legs and thighs. Among the instruments witnesses described as
being used were: canes, sticks, pointers, chair legs, sewing machine treadle
belts, leather straps, rulers, scissors, keys, rosary beads, coat-hangers,
hand-brushes, hairbrushes, yard-brushes, rungs of chairs, broom handles and
tree branches. Other forms of punishment and physical deprivation described
included: being locked in dark rooms or coal sheds, kneeling on stone
floors in corridors and steps for long periods, standing in cold, dark
corridors for hours or, on occasions, all night or being put outside all
night on fire escapes, or the pig sty and being placed in a cold bath as a
remedy for enuresis. There were reports of food or sleep deprivation and of
being force-fed. |
There were three hundred and thirty
(330) accounts of physical abuse involving nineteen (19) institutions.
Witnesses to the Confidential Committee described a daily existence that
involved the possibility of being hit by any staff member at any time for
any reason. Random and continuous abuse towards themselves or others created
an environment of pervasive fear. Witnesses described the reasons they were
beaten as including: inattention at lessons, not knowing the answer to a
question, left-handedness, absconding, not obeying instructions quickly
enough, bedwetting, general wear and tear on clothing and footwear, talking
at meals or in bed, playing soccer, not being able to carry out work tasks,
particularly farm work, quickly and properly. All of the witnesses were
clear that much of the time they did not know why they were being beaten.
Witnesses described being beaten on every part of their body: the front and
back of hands, wrists, legs, back, buttocks, head, face and feet. Some
beatings were administered in public and witnesses reported that they were
sometimes made to remove all their clothing for these public beatings. A
variety of instruments used to enforce discipline were described to the
Confidential Committee. The ‘leather’ (leather strap) was the most commonly
reported instrument. Also reported were a variety of sticks and other
instruments including ash plants, blackthorn sticks, brush handles,
pointers, farm implements, drain rods, rubber tyres, fan belts, horse
tackle, sliotars and hurling sticks. Witnesses also spoke of other
punishments and physical deprivation they experienced including: standing to
attention facing a wall for hours at night, kneeling for long periods in
yards and corridors, hard physical labour such as picking stones, tree
felling, raking hay and harvesting crops by hand and working on bogs, and
being deprived of food and sleep. |