A Black Power member and community worker has spoken about his experience with child abuse in the wake of the Leaving Neverland documentary.
The documentary has been incredibly well-watched in New Zealand over the past two nights, and reveals new details into the relationships Michael Jackson had with two young boys.
Both now say Jackson sexually abused them, with one aged just seven years old when the abuse began.
Speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme, Eugene Ryder reflected on his own experience of abuse while growing up in New Zealand.
He said there was a certain expectation especially put on men to be staunch and to not appear to be a victim, which could lead some to not want to speak out.
"I think there's a whole lot of stigma around what it means to be a man, and to admit that you have been abused as a child is a difficult thing to do," Mr Ryder said.
"I think what helped me tell my story was seeing someone who I know and respect talk about what happened to him ... when he told his story, that inspired me to tell mine.
The sexual abuse MR Ryder suffered happened while in state care, and was at the hands of those who were meant to protect him.
"The first conversation I had to have was with my wife and children and that was the most difficult thing, but to be able to have that conversation with someone you know and trust I think is important - to be able to be able to lift that veil of shame that one perceives."
Watch the full interview on Breakfast in the video above.
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