Appendix 7 - Date in care and forms of abuse described by care leavers in submissions

The information provided in this Appendix has been extracted from the submissions, both public and confidential, and like the listing of Homes is intended to give an understanding of the variety of care leavers and the scope of the evidence received by the Committee.

The figures in Table 7A give an indication of the period when the care leavers who provided submissions were in care. The date used is when the care leaver was first placed in care as many were in Homes for a span covering more than one decade. It should be noted that the dates in care were not provided in a number of submissions.

Table 7A: Care leavers by date placed in care

Time Period	Numbers in Care	Percentage
1920s	4	1.3
1930s	25	8.4
1940s	69	23.2
1950s	94	31.4
1960s	70	23.4
1970s	21	7
1980s	3	1
1990s- present	13	4.3
Total	299	100

Figure 7A: Care leavers by date placed in care (percentages)

Types of Abuse

The forms of abuse experienced by care leavers as described in submissions have been categorised under broad headings and reflect the discussion in chapter 4.

Table 7B: Forms of abuse experienced by care leavers

Forms of Abuse	Number	Percentage
Emotional	289	32.7
Physical	315	35.5
Sexual	186	20.9
Child Labour Exploitation	66	7.6
Neglect	33	3.3
Total	889	100

Emotional - includes psychological, verbal and mental abuse, humiliation and isolation.

Physical - ranges from physical cruelty, brutality, severe punishments, bashings and assault.

Sexual - ranges from molestation to sexual assault.

Child labour exploitation - ranges from complaints as to the workload of chores, to daily work related to the running of the Home, to physically demanding work in laundries and on farms, to work of any nature that many described as slave labour.

Neglect - includes various deprivations such as food and clothing, lack of education and healthcare.

Figure 7B: Forms of abuse experienced by care leavers (percentages)