Sydney - Children were being sexually abused in all 45
Aboriginal communities in far-north Australia that inspectors visited
during the preparation of a government report released Friday.
'This is a national disgrace, it's a disaster, and it is something
that should never happen in this country,' Indigenous Affairs
Minister Mal Brough told reporters. 'We should all find it absolutely
abhorrent and should be doing everything in our power to fix it.'
The report was written by aboriginal social worker Pat Anderson
and government lawyer Rex Wild. They said alcohol and ignorance are
the biggest contributors to child sex abuse.
Brough, who caused controversy last year by saying Aboriginal
elders were buying and selling children for sex, said the evidence
from just one remote Aboriginal community showed evidence that was
incontrovertible.
'In the last two months, 13 out of an approximate adult population
of 90 have been charged with child sex offences against children as
young as three with the main offence being penetration of a girl
under 13,' he said.
Around 500,000 of the 20 million Australians identify themselves
as Aborigines. Their life expectancy is 17 years shorter than other
Australians. Suicides are twice the national rate, murders are six
times as high and they are 11 times more likely to be imprisoned than
other Australians.
More than 60 per cent of Aboriginal pupils don't finish high
school and only 12 per cent go on to some form of higher education.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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