Gloriavale girls unlikely to complain about 'affection' from older men, court told
Thursday, 22 September 2022
Young girls in Gloriavale who are uncomfortable with being touched by older men rarely speak up about it because they know they need an “ally” within the community leadership.
This was the court testimony of former Gloriavale member John Ready on Thursday about life in the isolated West Coast Christian community.
Ready was giving evidence in the Employment Court case centred on six women arguing that they should have been recognised as employees, not volunteers, for the domestic work they did for years at the religious sect.
Ready, 44, was born in Gloriavale but was expelled from the community in 2017 after being found with a pamphlet about Christianity written by someone outside the community that differed from the Gloriavale leadership’s interpretation of the Bible.
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Upon being expelled, Ready was separated from his wife, seven daughters and two sons who continued to live in the community. Ready and his wife have another daughter who had already been expelled from Gloriavale at that time.
Ready’s testimony focused largely on the extensive and all-encompassing power of Gloriavale’s leadership.
“This was a society with one dominant male ruling. He is the all-powerful emperor that every member obeys and works for. If you do not, there are a range of consequences up to rejection from the community [and] denial of access to your family.”
The leadership includes Howard Temple, also known as the Overseeing Shepherd, and the shepherds and servants appointed by Temple.
Ready referred to a brief written by Temple in which he said he would “hand out affection” to the single girls in the community “in a fatherly way”, but if any had a problem with it, he would apologise and it would not happen again.
Ready said this was a “backwards” way of doing it.
“Wouldn’t you normally ask, ‘Would you like a hug?’ and they get to decline before the affection is given? Now the onus is on the girl [to say she has] a problem.”
Ready explained that to live in Gloriavale, people needed to be “thought well of”. Therefore, it would only be the absolute boldest of girls who would speak up if they were uncomfortable. Many would choose to stay silent to avoid negatively affecting their future in the community.
He said young girls knew if they ever ended up in a “servants and shepherds meeting” over a transgression, they needed an ally in there “to smooth things over”.
“I observed with a lot of these girls, when they were being pally with the servants and shepherds, there was an unspoken exchange going on. He knows what she is wanting – she is wanting security. The trouble is, she doesn’t know what he wants.”
Ready said children in Gloriavale were “entrapped”. Young girls were expected to work long, hard hours and their main focus was “to work and produce babies, as this is what is valued in the community”.
Girls in Gloriavale were generally married when they were aged between 16 and their early 20s, and they and their parents had no choice in who they married. They would be told by the leaders who God had chosen for them to marry – and if they did not abide by this decision, they would be seen as disobedient, Ready said.
During cross-examination, Ready was confronted with briefs of evidence from Gloriavale women who said they have never been forced to have children and that they regarded their children to be a gift from God.
“He who has a ‘why’ can endure almost any ‘how’,” Ready responded.
He explained that when he lived in Gloriavale, he worked hard and long hours and was happy to do so because he believed it was the right thing to do. “These girls are the same. They have babies; they love having babies.”
Ready was also challenged about his claim that those who did not work were not allowed to eat. Counsel for the defendants put it to Ready that Gloriavale members would testify that although they were aware of Bible scripture to this effect, it was never practised at Gloriavale.
Ready disagreed, saying he was denied food as a child as a matter of discipline. He told the court he had to stand in front of the whole community and go without food while the rest of the members ate.
Ready said he did not want his children to have a life where they spent all their time either working or at school without being allowed any downtime.
“One of my daughters has epilepsy and this has resulted in brain damage. At times, she functions mentally at a level well below the average of her age and has severe intermittent memory loss. I fear for her future in the community, as it is not set up to cater for people with high needs.”
He said girls in Gloriavale had no choice in which career to follow. A small portion would be teachers, midwives or childcarers, while the rest would be included in the general roster to do cleaning, cooking and other household chores for the community.
“The concept that any female in Gloriavale is a volunteer is a myth. We are born into the life, excluded from outside input, and due to the lack of basic working conditions all other New Zealand workers enjoy like money [and] wages, we have no choice. We are literally powerless against the shepherds’ control.”
The hearing will continue on Friday.