I am ashamed to be Australian

greymare · 12-12-2007, 01:35 AM

well, I didnt think it could happen but it has I am ashamed to be an Australian

This week a 10yr old girl was raped by 9 (men and teens).

Worse still, the prosecutor recommended no custodial sentences to be given as she "probably consented"

Worse still, the Judge agreed

. People over here are up in arms about it. This all happened in the Cairns District Court. (I dunno how to link it) I dont care what the situation or who the child is. CHILD. THAT POOR LITTLE GIRL.

. Im sorry but we need an officer of the law who has the balls to prosecute to the full extent of the law or to substitute the existing law for a harsher one. I cried when I read this story . The judge also needs to be investigated.

What are your thoughts??????

Pathless · 12-12-2007, 02:47 AM

That's horrible, grey. The act itself is horrific, and topped off with the fatherly powers-that-be proclaiming that the girl "probably consented," the ordeal becomes perverse. It is exceedingly infuriating how patriarchies continue to patronize women and children and any minority as if they, simply by virtue of their having a white penis, know more than the other person what is in that individual's best interest. I wonder how they came to their conclusions and verdict.

If you would like to paste the link (please do), simply highlight the web address at the top of the article's window, as in
http://www.comparative-religion.com/...ote=1&p=131819
for this very page, and then we will all be able to click on that link and read the article.

--P.

flowperson · 12-12-2007, 03:01 AM

Grey...I am so sorry for your distress and for that poor little girl. Pathless has the correct take on this I believe. When the males in any part of society tend to feel emasculated or dominated by the "weaker" members of society (women and children) they tend to eventually do horrible things to them in a random way.

This was a hallmark of the horrors of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as the ongoing horrors in Darfur. That this disease has struck so close to you and yours is also horrifying. But maybe it's a signal for you and your neighbors who feel the same way to do something "real" to stop it in its tracks.

You've got a newly elected head of government I understand. Write him a letter and get several hundred who agree with you to co-sign it with you That might be a good start.

flow....

greymare · 12-12-2007, 03:14 AM

thanks flow i think i will petition the government.good idea

greymare · 12-12-2007, 03:22 AM

Bligh threatens action on FNQ rape cases

greymare · 12-12-2007, 03:26 AM

I hope i did it right. if not. ooooops

Pathless · 12-12-2007, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greymare

Bligh threatens action on FNQ rape cases

That's perfect, grey!

It says in the article that the girl is an Aborigine and was first raped, in a separate incident, when she was seven:

The child - who cannot be named - was gang-raped at the age of seven in Aurukun on Cape York in 2002, and was placed into foster care with a non-indigenous family in Cairns.

However, child safety officers in April 2006 returned her to Aurukun, where she was raped again at the age of 10.

Any indication of the ethnicity of her attackers is absent from the article. Usually when no qualifying information is given about people (i.e. "aboriginal men," or "black men," as opposed to "men"), the implication is that they are white. The fact that they were not sentenced also indicates that they are likely white. Had they been aboriginal men, for instance, I think this scenario may have played out differently:

1) It may not have even been investigated
2) It may have been investigated, the men prosecuted and sentenced to harsher than usual punishments.

Option 2 is what usually happens when black men are accused of crimes against white women here in the states.

Bruce Michael · 12-12-2007, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pathless

That's perfect, grey!

It says in the article that the girl is an Aborigine and was first raped, in a separate incident, when she was seven:

The child - who cannot be named - was gang-raped at the age of seven in Aurukun on Cape York in 2002, and was placed into foster care with a non-indigenous family in Cairns.

However, child safety officers in April 2006 returned her to Aurukun, where she was raped again at the age of 10.

Any indication of the ethnicity of her attackers is absent from the article. Usually when no qualifying information is given about people (i.e. "aboriginal men," or "black men," as opposed to "men"), the implication is that they are white. The fact that they were not sentenced also indicates that they are likely white. Had they been aboriginal men, for instance, I think this scenario may have played out differently:

1) It may not have even been investigated
2) It may have been investigated, the men prosecuted and sentenced to harsher than usual punishments.

Option 2 is what usually happens when black men are accused of crimes against white women here in the states.

Hi Pathless,
Assume- from "makes an ass of u & me"

The men were aboriginal and the judge was a woman.
Child abuse has been rife in aboriginal communities for a long time now. The previous Prime Minister, Howard had been trying to do something about it by banning alcohol and pornography.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...15/1952118.htm

Child sex abuse rife in Indigenous communities: report
PM - Child abuse rife in Aboriginal communities: report

If the girl was white or the men were white, there would have been an appropriate punishment. But because of "cultural" reasons the judge was soft.

Kind Regards,
Br.Bruce

greymare · 12-12-2007, 09:02 AM

unfortunately what bro bruce says is true. I dont want to get into a racist debate here but here is a few home truths about Australia. For a long time the communities (aboriginal) were given basically their own ability to carry out laws and look after their own communities andcitizens. Yes it was funded by the federal government and thus by the rest of Oz, fair enough and so is the dole, pensions.etc. After a few government enquiries into corruption and the monies not actually going to the residents and their needs. the Federal government basically has taken it back over. Most of these communities are derelict to the extreme have little facilites (as they have been destroyed) and resemble third world countries. the youth and indeed the general population rely soley on government pensions/welfare and fill their days, drinking, sniffing glue and petrol and running amok. It is true. If you live their and want a better life you have to leave as is the culture of the community. Not intended but just the despair is so evident and their is no hope.
Now before you get on your soapbox about how badly ;these people are treated, think for a minute, everyone else in the country has the same rights and actually if I was in the same financial situation I would actuallly be entitled to LESS money and assistance because I am not aboriginal. think about it. Our government hasnt helped helpless people it has just thrown money at their elders and hoped that they will go away. that also is appalling.

Pathless · 12-12-2007, 10:24 AM

Thanks for clearing things up, Bruce and grey.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greymare

Now before you get on your soapbox about how badly ;these people are treated, think for a minute, everyone else in the country has the same rights and actually if I was in the same financial situation I would actuallly be entitled to LESS money and assistance because I am not aboriginal. think about it. Our government hasnt helped helpless people it has just thrown money at their elders and hoped that they will go away. that also is appalling.

In America, alcoholism among Indians is also a large problem. That the rapists are Aborigines doesn't completely surprise me. When people are neglected and treated as less than human, as American Indians and Australian Aborigines have been, they are prone to losing self-respect and respect for others, prone to losing touch with their humanity. Their cultures have been effectively stamped out and their ways of life denigrated. I agree with you, grey. Money will not solve the problems of a colonized people who are now foreigners in their own land.

greymare · 12-12-2007, 11:08 AM

yes, thats right the money wont fix the bigger problem. No, i dont know what will. Far better educated people than me have tried and so far all have failed. A lot boils down to people fixing their own problems, i suppose. dont wait to be rescued, do it your self. Like a lot of things in this life.

17th Angel · 12-12-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greymare

well, I didnt think it could happen but it has I am ashamed to be an Australian

This week a 10yr old girl was raped by 9 (men and teens).

Worse still, the prosecutor recommended no custodial sentences to be given as she "probably consented"

Worse still, the Judge agreed

. People over here are up in arms about it. This all happened in the Cairns District Court. (I dunno how to link it) I dont care what the situation or who the child is. CHILD. THAT POOR LITTLE GIRL.

. Im sorry but we need an officer of the law who has the balls to prosecute to the full extent of the law or to substitute the existing law for a harsher one. I cried when I read this story . The judge also needs to be investigated.

What are your thoughts??????

Give me a badge ;\ Judge Septimus... Shall be my name I AM TEH LAW!

I wouldn't be ashamed of what nationality you are as what happened, in no way represents you does it?

Pathless · 12-12-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greymare

yes, thats right the money wont fix the bigger problem. No, i dont know what will. Far better educated people than me have tried and so far all have failed. A lot boils down to people fixing their own problems, i suppose. dont wait to be rescued, do it your self. Like a lot of things in this life.

Yes, yet indigenous populations are put in a strange predicament: they have been swept up into alien cultures and at the same time held away from those cultures. They've been uprooted from their traditions but remain who they are, and who they are is basically unnacceptable to western civilization. It is much easier for individuals of Anglo and European descent to help themselves, regardless of what money is available, than it is for someone whose culture has been nearly exterminated, then co-opted.

The disturbing thing about this particular case is that it is not only the nine Aboriginal men who are guilty, but the entire colonial system which has created the present situation. Extrememly complicated, yes, with no good solution that I can see.

As far as your comment 17th, I would say that unfortunately it represents many of us. It's easy enough to say "I would never do such a thing," and I don't think any of us here would; however, we are all caught up and living within a global system that exploits the Earth, animals, and other human beings. Whether we like it or not, we are a part of it.

wil · 12-12-2007, 09:21 PM

White man's reparations at the demands of the abused are often throwing money at the situation, aka, welfare/dole/lump sum payments. We've effectively done the same to our indigenous peoples in the US the American Indian, the Eskimo, etc. And we've abused blacks by the same system, creating an entitlement society, it is a shame.

17th Angel · 12-13-2007, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pathless

As far as your comment 17th, I would say that unfortunately it represents many of us. It's easy enough to say "I would never do such a thing," and I don't think any of us here would; however, we are all caught up and living within a global system that exploits the Earth, animals, and other human beings. Whether we like it or not, we are a part of it.

Hell no it does not, They were humans, they were males... They spoke English... I have all that in common but what they did has nothing to do with me, and does not represent me..... Just because they are Australlian, it doesn't represent Grey........ Every man, is accountable for his own actions... I have NO part of it... So don't put that bull on me.