After tabling Whanaketia, the final report of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Inquiry into Abuse in Care, on July 24th, 2024, survivors of faith-based abuse in New Zealand’s Catholic Church and their friends and whānau will tie ribbons onto the fence of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral on Hill Street in Wellington’s parliamentary precinct.

This initiative is part of the LOUD Fence movement, an independent survivor-led movement to show support for victims and survivors of clerical and religious child sexual abuse and other faith-based abuse in the New Zealand Catholic Church.

The idea behind the LOUD Fence movement, which started in Australia in 2015, is to tie brightly coloured ribbons to a church fence as a sign of solidarity with victims and survivors. The ribbons also carry written messages of support, as a peaceful form of speaking out, and a determination to break the silence and coverup around this abuse.

The Hill Street LOUD Fence has been planned by the support network SNAP Aotearoa whose members have experienced abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, bishops, nuns, and brothers across New Zealand. SNAP Aotearoa spokesperson Donald McLeish said “The LOUD fence offers a voice for the abused. Victims and survivors must be allowed to express themselves with dignity and be heard. We hope local church authorities and churchgoers will support them.”

SNAP survivor-support director Barbara Taylor said “I am extremely proud to support the LOUD Fence and grateful to SNAP for planning this in Wellington, our nation’s capital. We are committed to supporting survivors, protecting children and vulnerable people, and raising community awareness around abuse and its coverup so that these will stop.

“As a nation, we must place the needs of all victims and survivors at the core of who we are and what we do,” said Christopher Longhurst, national leader for SNAP in New Zealand. “I would like to encourage everyone to place a ribbon on this fence to support survivors and share in breaking the silence,” Longhurst added.

SNAP hopes for support from the wider community, the Commission, local churchgoers and church leaders.

The network invites all members of the public to join in solidarity with the victims and survivors and their whānau by placing a ribbon on the Hill Street fence whenever passing by.

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