New Zealand offers national apology to people abused in care

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament complex, popularly known as the "Beehive" because of the building’s shape, in Wellington, New Zealand July 23, 2020. Picture taken July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Praveen Menon/File Photo

(Reuters) -New Zealand offered a historic national apology on Tuesday to victims and families of hundreds of thousands of young people and vulnerable adults who were subjected to physical and sexual abuse in institutions over the last 70 years.

The apology follows a report by a public inquiry in July that found some 200,000 children and vulnerable adults in state and faith-based care experienced some form of abuse from 1950 to 2019.