Romany thank you for your balanced perspective on this sad subject. Casting blame around doesn't solve the problem at all - what we need are solutions.

PS R0bert - when I started reading your post I thought I was reading an old one of Timkins - not a good look, as Romany said there is little hope for action if we start casting stones. Nor was there any particular gender bias in Stephens article, apart from the fact that most of the paedaphile behaviour was perpetuated by men. Oops now I am tipping my hand ;-)

The aboriginals isolated in their desert ghettos desperately need assistance, preferably from their bretheren. Gov could fund other Aboriginals to go and help their people. An Indigenous CSI like Stephen suggested.

Romany, agreed. My comments were an attempt to address one side of what I took to be a legitimate query on your part as to why some of this happens. If you were fishing I took the bait.

Hopefully the info provided in the links is about as independant as you can get. I don't always agree with the conclusions they draw but at least they appear to try and use the best available data and acknowledge the limitations of the data.

The reality is that the issue is genderised on a number of fronts, some real and some constructs to aid various agenda's.

I happen to believe that the lies and distortions are best confronted and challenged. Where truth exists it should be acknowledged hence my appreciation of Stephen's courage in addressing what I assume to be a difficult subject for those seeking to improve the image of indiginous people.

There lies our best chance of finding solutions.

R0bert

Perhaps the powers that be should build more detention centres off shore to house ALL the paedophiles.
All should be named, shamed and kept away from civilised people and that includes the scum who go abroad simply to prey on street children.
One could wish that there were civil libertarians and advocates who could fight for these children ,unfortunately there is no interest exhibited in such matters. Maybe if a bit more favourable publicity was shown, there would be a scramble to represent the interest of the small victims.

Which would seem to support the idea that we should stop hanging around waiting for things to happen. I don't think things will ever change while we signal acceptance of the status quo - by not protesting to Judges about lenient sentences, by not fostering a climate of disbelief so that children remain afraid to speak out, by such simple means as not signing petitions. If every person who wrote in to this blog also sent a letter of protest to someone in authority - be it in the field of law, child protection, politics or even to their spiritual leader, perhaps it would be more productive than quarreling among ourselves?

We should all be concerned about abuse to our children. Statistics can be used in as many ways as there are types of abuse. Yes, it is probably true, women, as single carer's physically abuse their kids hitting, belittling, failing to provide adequate nutritious food, nowadays, an obese child is seen as being 'abused'. Maybe this is due to stress, depression, or some other reason - But the main thrust of Stephens article, sexual abuse, is mainly perpetrated by men, as stated very clearly in the stats available. In single mother situations, sexual abuse is most often perpetrated by the male partner of a woman, who for whatever reason has let him into her life- poverty,loneliness,gullability, it makes no difference, humans yearn for company and some have to take what they can get.

Can we as caring people of this country put aside our differences and concentrate on protecting children? We are all guilty, perhaps of turning away from a person who with help may have not sucumbed to abusive behaviour, and who has not lost their temper and yelled, or hit out? and get on with lobbying the government to put some dollars into something that will stop and/or help these offenders, and give voice to the victims. Lobby, as individuals and collectively for the rules regarding the evidence of children to be changed so that a child of tender years who discloses is listened to and protected in the criminal and Family Court So that they do not have to provide 'evidence' to the standard required currently in these courts. A standard that even adults who have been raped cannot provide due to the trauma. Lobby for changes so that false allegations by adults (of either sex) in the Family Court in particular do not drag on for years causing financial ruin and extreme trauma for the child caught in the middle. As has been demonstrated from studies of child sex offenders, most, if not all, were victims as children themselves.
Make our walls windows and see others when we look in the mirror at ourselves.