A Gloriavale leaver says greater agency involvement is needed to ensure there is meaningful change within the tight knit, secretive West Coast community.
Gloriavale has come under fire in recent years amid allegations of serious misconduct, including - but not limited to - labour exploitation and sexual abuse.
The community's leadership issued a letter of apology following an investigation by 1News Chief Correspondent John Campbell which aired on Sunday.
READ MORE: John Campbell: How Gloriavale stole the right to say no
“Much has changed at Gloriavale since 2018 when, at the passing of our founder, the leadership mantle passed to a new leader,” the community’s leadership wrote.
“During this period, we have revised our governance and charted new directions for our community. We are deeply saddened by the harm members of our community have experienced.
‘We apologise for our role in failing to prevent and protect victims of labour exploitation and sexual abuse.”
Gloriavale leaver, author and entrepreneur Lilia Tarawa told Breakfast the apology “left me with more questions than questions it had answered”.
“I think that really speaks to how clear it was about some of the things that we would like to see change within the community.”
Tarawa raised issues around the role leadership played in failing to protect people from abuse.
“It doesn’t really sit with me very well because if Gloriavale were truly apologetic then we would see change in the community the day after this letter has been released, but the things that are happening - they’re still essentially the same,” she said.
Tarawa said a genuine apology “would look like action behind the words".
"For us survivors and people who’ve been victims inside Gloriavale, we don’t care about what Gloriavale says - we don’t even need an apology. It might be nice to some people, it might give closure to some people but we want to see real change.
"We want to see the people removed from the administration who are responsible for allowing the abuse to happen, who are responsible for covering it up and we don’t see that.
Ryan Boswell explains what led to the decisions. (Source: 1News)
“Unless there’s a massive change in the administration of Gloriavale, I don’t see that things are really going to change unless they’re forced to change by external agencies and that’s where the Government really comes into it.”
READ MORE: Gloriavale: Calls for more leaders to stand down
She believes there is “a lot that has to change” at Gloriavale in order to make it safe for people living within the community, including its leadership and opening up the charitable trust to people outside Gloriavale members.
“The problem with a lot of the abuse that’s happened in the past is that it’s all been kept internal and there’s been no accountability
“The Government agencies - the police, labour inspectorate, whoever it is - has to hold Gloriavale accountable and they need systems and procedures that hold Gloriavale accountable to these promises that they’re essentially making to keep their people safe.”
She called for greater agency involvement, noting that the community is “still being run by Gloriavale members and all of the roles within Gloriavale are Gloriavale members”.
“These are people who are stuck in a cycle of abuse and coercive control. These are people who have been brainwashed into a religion that is essentially a patriarchy - a very strong patriarchy - inside Gloriavale where women and children essentially have no rights.
“It has to come from the outside and it has to take heat from the outside working very closely within the administration of Gloriavale."
Tarawa called for the Government to appoint roles within the community to ensure they "can actually watch the change happen on a daily basis and report to the Government on it", adding that coming from her own experience, people are "told what to say, you’re primed on how to talk to the media, you’re totally brainwashed into what you should say, what you should do, how you should behave when you interact with outsiders".
“At the moment, the Government’s just relying on whatever the Gloriavale administration decides to tell them and how true that is."
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