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Date Posted: 13:27:27 06/11/03 Wed
Author: Buffy's vampire
Subject: Indigenous kids suffer pedophilia, incest and violence

Black child abuse 'at crisis point'
By Misha Schubert and Paul Toohey
June 12, 2003
VIOLENCE in indigenous communities is endemic and getting worse, with "extreme action" required to stop brutality against women and children, respected Aboriginal leader Mick Dodson has said.

Slamming indigenous leaders for their failure to make headway on the problem, Professor Dodson also made a plea for Prime Minister John Howard to help.

He said the level of violence against children was particularly "devastating" and "beyond comprehension" – including abuse of babies too gruesome for him to describe.

"Our children are experiencing horrific levels of violence and sexual abuse," the head of the Australian National University's Institute for Indigenous Australia told the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday.

The problem was "at crisis point", as children suffered neglect, incest, pedophilia and assault, and babies fell prey to rapists, while women were "crying out for help".

"We must acknowledge that the extent of violence in our communities is totally unacceptable. It is extreme and requires extreme action."

Little research has been done on child sex abuse in black communities, but the Queensland Domestic Violence Taskforce has estimated 90 per cent of Aboriginal families are affected by violence. The taskforce said Aboriginal women were 45 times more likely than other women to be victims of violence.

Another recent federal government study, by researcher Paul Memmot, found the rates and types of violence were getting worse in many areas.

Professor Dodson called on the Government to work with black communities to combat family violence as "a national priority".

"It is not only indigenous leadership that should be tackling the issues, it requires strong political leadership from the Prime Minister down," he said. "This is not just our problem – this is everyone's problem."

Professor Dodson said violence was spread by poverty and social exclusion, "which combine into a volatile cocktail of despair, anger, powerlessness and hopelessness".

Violence rendered other government programs "pointless" because it destroyed people's work, education and health.

"Perhaps many of us are trying, but we are not trying hard enough," he said. "I don't think those of us who are said to be leaders are providing the leadership that is required."

Professor Dodson stressed such violence was not part of traditional culture.

"But it is occurring principally because of the marginalisation of Aboriginal people, economic and welfare dependency, high levels of unemployment . . . and the breakdown of community values."

Indigenous family violence expert Boni Robertson applauded Professor Dodson's comments, saying child sex abuse was chronic but under-researched.

"We have to ask why this violence is happening, and it flows from suppressed trauma. If you really want to do something about this problem, you need to address the trauma that's fuelling the alcohol abuse and violence," she said.

Yanyi Bandisha, from the Finke community southeast of Alice Springs and vice-chairwoman of the grassroots Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara women's council, strongly endorsed Pro fessor Dodson's wake-up call.

"At last, an Aboriginal man is standing up to talk for the rights of women and children."

Jane Lloyd, chairwoman of the Northern Territory Domestic and Aboriginal Family Violence Advisory Council, said: "We are really encouraged by Mick Dodson's strong comments today, and hope that other indigenous men will follow and ensure that the safety of women and children is paramount."

Ms Lloyd said Professor Dodson's claims about the levels of violence were not exaggerated. "It is at a crisis and it needs more than talk. There needs to be accessible and credible services to all indigenous women throughout Australia."

She said domestic violence services were either not credible or non-existent in remote communities.

"They are hardly there. There are huge gaps in delivery of what we would consider basic services in urban areas."

Alison Anderson, the only woman on the board of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, said the peak indigenous body had a strong policy deploring violence and was developing an action plan with other agencies.

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