Why single out only Aboriginal culture?
Foxy,
That's why ? You're a perfect example for the need of it !

But the Voice Committee (of black/white politicians in Canberra) would have buried the truth about Aboriginal male DV in NT.

Aye Foxy?!

mhaze,

I agree what's happening in the NT is shocking and a
crisis. However, your opening post was not a balanced
one. You put the entire blame on only one side. Hence
my response.

I'm not trying to excuse any one's behavior but a more
balanced account would have helped.

You made no mention that the NT police commissioner
Michael Murphy and many other figures voiced many
concerns not only about the NT police force, racism,
about the evidence of "chronic and shocking" under funding
and survices struggling to meet demand.

Of the NT government rejecting
calls for $180m to be spent over 5 years for women's
shelters, behaviour change programs, and police reform.

Recommendations have been made as to what should be
addressed including increased and indexed funding for
family violence services, an overhaul of prison and
men's behaviour change programs, culturally appropriate
supports and the establishment of an NT peak body
for domestic and family violence.

The NT's peak Aboriginal Health body, "Aboriginal Medical
Services Alliance" called on the NT Government to fulfil
its $180m election commitment to tackling the crisis to
move beyond "lip service".

"This is a crisis that has cost far too many lives.
Particulaly the lives of Aboriginal women and the
reality is these traumas are preventable".

My apologies - but those are the reasons for my earlier
reaction. There's more to what's happening in the
NT and all of it needs to be told.

Hi Maverick,

No. I suspect it's the NT government that has probably
buried a great deal of information and facts.

"You might have mentioned that cave in WA. "

I have no idea what that means. Care to elucidate?

" "They know what to do but they don't do it. So what is it that might be done?"

Within the wider community there are significant efforts to try to address broader issues and try to change the culture that results in DV in some groups. So we see campaigns telling men and women (but mainly men) to respect women and teach their sons greater respect for women. It also campaigns to have men accept more responsibility for violence when they see or know about it and to step in to address it.

I think much of this is mere virtue signalling and needs to be better targeted but the effort is a step (or a gigantic stride) in the right direction.

But we see no such approach in the aboriginal community. We know that aboriginal culture is/was highly misogynist but that cannot be acknowledged by the aboriginal industry and its satellites. So it cannot be addressed.

In a post above Foxy lists all the things the report recommended about addressing aboriginal DV. But these are all 'after-the-event' spending - more community centres, more police presence, more women's refuges etc. But no where do we see recommendations about trying to change the male culture of DV among aboriginal men as we see in the wider community.

In today's world its OK to tell all white men they are misogynist bastards who need to change. But its impossible to say that to aboriginal men, apparently. We know aboriginal men can change since urbanised aboriginals have DV rates similar to the wider community.

The quote I had in the first post was an aboriginal women acknowledging that they don't talk about DV because it shames their culture. And the wider community doesn't talk about the causes for the vastly higher aboriginal DV rates for the same reasons.

Until that changes, everything else is just putting band-aids on an open wound.

From what I've seen of today's world - it's the making of
excuses for violent behaviour. "They're being blamed because
they're white". It's all about "women power" and feminism"" don't
you know. And so it goes. The band plays on. It's never
the fault of men. Nobody that I know claims that it is.

Domestic violence is personal and circumstances are different
in each case. The adds tell us - teach kids from the
start - about respect. Children are influenced by what they
see around them.

Don't finger-point.
Take responsibility. Teach respect.