Former youth centre chief 'deeply sorry' for sexual abuse of girls in her care
|
Version 0 of 1. A former youth centre boss broke down as she told of her shame and devastation that girls were sexually abused under her watch at the state-run facility. Dr Eileen Slack, the former superintendent of Winlaton youth training centre in Victoria, apologised for failing to protect its residents from abuse as she fronted the child abuse royal commission. Related: Youth workers failed to protect girl whose father repeatedly raped her, royal commission hears Slack, who was in charge of the facility from 1978 until 1991, said she had not known at the time that girls were abused by other residents and some staff but took responsibility for not providing a safe place for children: “The buck stops with me.” “My ignorance is inexcusable,” she told the commission. “Whilst my words and thoughts are inadequate I want to sincerely apologise to each and every victim of this insidious and inhumane abuse. “I feel unable to express my horror and express my deep shame that you experienced sexual assaults with me as your superintendent. As your superintendent each and every one of you had the right to expect my protection.” Slack said she lived with the regret and guilt of failing the girls and their loved ones. “I am deeply sorry for the pain my management inadequacies inflicted on you. I will forever remain acutely distressed in the knowledge of the pain and the trauma each of you endured while residents at Winlaton.” The commission heard how Slack raised the alarm on an experimental contraceptive given to Winlaton residents. Depo-Provera injections were administered to girls at Winlaton in the 1970s and 80s, at a time when its use was supposed to be restricted to research and development. Slack said she had raised concerns about the drug’s use soon after starting at Winlaton in 1976, as she was aware the US had banned Depo-Provera as a contraceptive. Medical staff believed the girls were promiscuous during weekend leave and felt it was a legitimately used contraceptive, Slack said. Slack said she had regularly told medical staff: “I’d like you to know that I think it’s a dangerous contraceptive.” But she said her concerns had fallen on deaf ears. The doctors deemed it to be a safe and reliable drug for girls who found other methods of contraception unsuitable, the commission heard. In 1983 it was noted that the contraceptive had been widely used for a decade. The federal health department had told Slack that Australia did not allow the use of Depo-Provera as a contraceptive, she said, but she had not had the authority as superintendent to stop its use. “They told me in no uncertain terms that I was stepping outside my lines of authority and it would be, in so many words, not something that I should concern myself with.” Depo-Provera was not approved for general release in Australia until the 90s. |