Aboriginal abuse curbs on alcohol and pornography deemed 'racist'

[BurtWorm]

No shit! :wtf:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6229628.stm

Plans by the Australian government to ban alcohol and pornography in some Aboriginal communities have been branded racist by critics.

Prime Minister John Howard announced the ban after an inquiry found child sex abuse in nearly all indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

Mr Howard said the action was necessary to tackle the "national emergency".

But several indigenous leaders and politicians have criticised the plan as hastily prepared and badly thought out.

They have also accused Mr Howard of trying to grab votes ahead of national elections later this year.

"It would be different if his social behaviour strategy applied to everyone in Australia, but it doesn't," Michael Mansell, of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, said.

"It has got nothing to do with race, it's got everything to do with responsibility of the parents."
Prime Minister John Howard

"This is a racist attack on the weak, and an immoral abuse of power, amounting to nothing more than political vote scoring."

...

[BushOut06]

1. Just curious - what do they define as "child sex abuse"?

In many ancient cultures, it's commonplace for women as young as 14-15 to get married and start having children. The whole notion of adulthood starting at 18 is a relatively modern one. Is this simply a matter of conflicting cultures?

[BurtWorm]

3. This is from a previous BBC report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6756515.stm


Aborigine child sex abuse 'rife'


A high-profile inquiry into child sex abuse in remote northern Australia says it found cases in every Aborigine community researchers visited.

...

The report's authors said they had found incidents of child sex abuse in each of the 45 communities they visited as part of their inquiry.

One alarming finding was that young children were being exposed to pornography and imitating the sexual behaviour among themselves, they said.


The 316-report report found that children were being abused by both indigenous and non-indigenous adults.

Children as young as five were found to have contracted sexually-transmitted diseases.

Girls were being prostituted for drugs - including for petrol, a substance reported to be commonly sniffed by youths in Aboriginal communities.

Co-author of the report, Pat Anderson, a well-known Aboriginal health specialist, said there was a strong link between the abuse and the alcoholism that is rife in many indigenous communities.

[BushOut06]

4. Somehow, I doubt those problems existed in Aboriginal culture a long time ago

Somehow, I have a feeling that their treatment as second-class citizens has helped to create this problem. Instead of imposing blatantly racist policies, couldn't they at least try to address the poverty and other problems that help cause the problems? I guess that's too "liberal" of an attitude.

[BurtWorm]

5. It seems obvious that if paternalism caused the problem, it ain't gonna solve it!

Obvious to anyone but a winger, anyway.

[PDJane]

2. It's standard in cultures

Who have been displaced or marginalized. It happens in North America, too.