little children are sacred

 
Ms Pat Anderson and Mr Rex Wild released a report a few weeks ago called "Little Children are Sacred". 

it was a devastating account of rampant abuse of indigenous children within Australia's Northern Territory, and has caused quite a stir. 

the NT government commissioned the report after a series of allegations. 

apparently children as young as five had contracted sexually transmitted diseases and girls were being prostituted, to both indigenous and non-indigenous adults in exchange for gasoline.

Prime Minister John Howard's Federal government declared the crisis a "national emergency" and responded to the situation by announcing their intensions: a sweeping invasion into Aboriginal communities in the NT including, a ban on alcohol and porn enforced by the military, mandatory medical exams for all Aboriginal children 16 and under, scrapping permits for outsiders to get into townships and roads on indigenous land, immediately quarantining 50% of welfare payments (which can only be spent on food and other essentials) as well as making future payments conditional on school attendance and child health, the seizure of Aboriginal land and homes for five years, and the dispatch of interstate police as well as Indigenous troops and managers into settlements with authorization to enter homes for inspection at any time.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brown says the compulsory acquisition of homes was "to ensure that people are living in hygienic conditions" and to "control… the condition they're in, who's in them, and what's occurring in them".

residents of the town of Mutitjulu have expressed alarm at the looming military deployment to their community and claim, "even the doctors say they are reluctant to examine a young child without a parent's permission. it is a violation of our human and sacred rights"

Mr Rex Wild is quoted as being both for and against the government's actions. the report he co-authored proposed several community lead strategies, which are quite opposite to what the Australian government has in mind.
Parliament will be called to override the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and territory self-government laws.

it's an election year, which has heightened the situation even more.
while the National Indigenous Council, Reconciliation Australia, and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd back the government's plans, others disagree. Democrats Leader Lyn Allison called it "an outrageous authoritarian crackdown, a jackboot approach" and Greens leader Bob Brown slammed 11 (gasp, it was in crisis mode that long ago and no one...) years of inaction. 

former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chairwoman Lowitja O'Donoghue said "stripping people of control was not the way to get tough on child sex abuse". Indigenous activist Michael Mansell also condemned the move as immoral, racist, and illegal. 

Prime Minister Howard says it's not racist, but aims to give Aboriginal women and children a better future. PM Howard says he will claim all responsibility for the outcome of his government's decision. 

I wonder if PM Howard has seen "Rabbit Proof Fence"...

even though the renowned Journal of the American Medical Association acknowledges the plight of the elderly, teenagers, and battered wives, nowhere in its reports does it mention the very reality of battered men. JAMA

moot or hooey?

the fastest growing group of violent criminal offenders today is teen girls.