The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) intervenes because of serious abuses that have been detected. In December, the inspectorate already conducted an unannounced check at the institution, where ten people with intellectual or multiple disabilities were staying. The IGJ also received information about what was wrong from the police and from the TV program Undercover in the Netherlands.
Put in ditch
The report contains various examples of reported or recorded abuse. For example, the police report contains a report about a resident who was pushed with his head into a toilet. Another was placed in a ditch by staff, another was placed outside under a dripping garden hose. A client’s head was also smeared with peanut butter, after which a dog licked him, reports RTV NOord.
The report also includes reports of someone having an entire orange shoved into his mouth and a client having his hair pulled back while a snake was shoved down his throat. “The snake goes so far down his throat that the client makes choking noises,” the description reads.
Belittled and intimidated
Several former employees had reported the incident to the police. He not only started working on the matters himself, but also informed the IGJ. Journalist Alberto Stegeman also recorded abuses and passed them on to the Inspectorate.
“At Aurora Borealis, clients are subject to corporal punishment if they want to make clear with their behavior what they want or do not want,” the IGJ summarizes the situation in a report. According to the inspection, clients were also belittled and intimidated ‘by laughing at, insulting and humiliating them’. As a result, Aurora Borealis had ‘a sense of insecurity’.
A few days after the visit, the IGJ already ordered the institution to stop caring for two of the clients. For the other clients, Aurora Borealis received an instruction on January 11. It would normally be published a week later. The institution has tried to prevent this with summary proceedings. The judge rejected the request, but due to the lawsuit, publication took a little longer.
