Wider sex abuse probe ‘risks predator stigma’
Pia Akerman & John Wiseman; 6/5/08
Any move to extend the Mullighan Commission’s child sex abuse investigations into other Aboriginal communities in South Australia is set to face opposition from indigenous leaders. An indigenous community leader from the state’s southwest coast said it would be wrong to do so and would effectively brand all Aboriginal communities as “being sexual predators”. Kokatha Mula elder Bronwyn Coleman Sleep expressed her opposition to further investigations on the eve of commissioner Ted Mullighan’s report on child sex abuse on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands being tabled in the South Australian parliament.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23652081-5013404,00.html
Police ‘failed to act’ on abusers
John Wiseman; 5/5/08
Aboriginal leaders have called for perpetrators of child sexual abuse in remote indigenous communities to be prosecuted through the criminal justice system, rather than be subject to traditional codes of punishment, while demanding police take action to stamp out the problem. Leaders from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, in northwest South Australia, have claimed that in the past, police have been “reluctant” to pursue offenders. Their position is outlined in a submission to the state’s Mullighan inquiry into child sexual abuse, whose report on abuse in the APY lands will be tabled in the South Australian parliament this week. It is certain to reveal similar problems to those uncovered by the Little Children are Sacred report in the Northern Territory that sparked the Howard government’s intervention into indigenous communities there.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23645392-5013172,00.html
Nurse lashes out at rape strike claims
Tony Koch; 6/5/08
A nurse allegedly raped on a remote Torres Strait island three months ago has accused bureaucrats of implying she would not have been attacked if she had been more sensitive to indigenous culture. The nurse, who has made her career in remote, indigenous communities, said yesterday Queensland Health had misrepresented the demands of her colleagues, who went on strike in protest and seeking better security. Northern Area Health Services general manager Roxanne Ramsay has been reported as saying the promise of enhanced cultural-awareness training and better applicant screening was the key to ending the six-day strike by nurses on nine islands last month.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23652154-5013172,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Sex Trade