A survivor of the Mama Hooch brothers has launched a fund to honour the bravery of the women who were horrifically attacked by two sexual predators in one of New Zealand's most notorious cases.
The case dubbed Operation Sinatra was unprecedented in New Zealand. Never before had this country seen similar offending on such a large scale and lengthy-time period.
Earlier this year, the pair were convicted on a total of 69 sex crimes spanning over three and a half years, including rape, sexual violation, indecent assault, stupefying, disabling, making intimate recordings without consent and supplying illicit drugs. There were dozens of victims, the majority of which were young women - some just teenagers - when they were horrifically attacked.
At Christchurch District Court in August, Danny Jaz was sentenced to 16.5 years imprisonment and his younger brother Roberto Jaz was sentenced to 17 years. The judge also ruled that the brothers must serve a minimum of 50 percent of their sentences before they can apply for parole.
Now, a Givealittle page has been launched to help support the courageous survivors to focus on their bright futures ahead.
On Monday, one of the survivors, who wishes to remain anonymous, organised the fundraiser to provide the other survivors with the necessary resources to help rebuild their lives.
The woman said in a statement the survivors experienced "unimaginable challenges and made tremendous sacrifices along the way".
"For some, the impact has been so overwhelming it's infiltrated every aspect of their lives," she said.
After waiting five long years for the case to go to trial, some of the brave women read victim impact statements at the brothers' sentencing where they told the rapists face-to-face how the men's actions caused them to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal thoughts and panic attacks.
Some of the women's education and studies were impacted, while others had to take significant time off work.
A couple of the victims said they had to move cities, with one even leaving New Zealand, out of fear they would run into their attackers on the streets. While awaiting trial, the Jaz brothers were on relaxed bail settings which meant some of their victims did bump into them in public.
One couple had to postpone their wedding scheduled in late 2023 due to the stress of the trial.
On top of the immense emotional and physical pain the women endured, they also suffered financially as some of them had to pay for ongoing counselling.
"What happened to us was insidious, but this will not define us. We all now deserve to move on with lives. May this mark the start of a bright and beautiful future ahead," the woman said.
"I thank Aotearoa for your unwavering kindness and compassion towards the survivors, you have truly touched our hearts. It's my hope the proceeds of the Give a Little Fund is used by each survivor to relieve any financial constraints they endured, or to help fulfil any future aspirations that lead to a better and stronger future."
Another survivor, Sophie Brown, who has waived her automatic right to name suppression, said while providing financial support for the survivors is an "incredible blessing", she is disgusted at the significant amount of taxpayer funding the Jaz brothers have received.
Earlier this week, details released under the Official Information Act to the NZ Herald revealed taxpayers have footed a legal bill of almost $900,000 for the defence of the two rapists.
As of August 31, the brothers' lawyers had been paid a total of $896,517.21 from the legal aid coffers. Of that, $498,214.44 was paid to Danny's lawyers and $398,302.77 to Roberto's.
Since the pair have appealed their convictions and sentences, this amount is expected to increase.
"While these men face years behind bars, they were not ordered to pay survivors reparations for their actions; furthermore, they relied on taxpayer money to fund their trial. The fact that our – survivors – money is being spent to defend the men who abused us is frankly disgusting," Brown said.
"While numerical values like years on a sentence, or dollars fundraised, can't undo what these predators have done, uplifting some of the historical financial burden survivors have faced is an incredible blessing."
The Givealittle fundraiser to support the survivors will be open until October 29. The funds will be evenly distributed to the victims who wish to receive it.
