Carpet of culture blamed

for lack of action

By Florence Syme-Buchanan

EXPECT tougher talk and more action on child abuse and neglect after a huge international meet ing blames a Pacific culture of silence for not better dealing with the problem.

The carpet of culture bulges with shock ing, heart-wrenching stories of sexually abused small children - no more can be or should be, shoved under it. Many Pacific island health workers returned to their home islands - after the 12th Congress of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) in Auckland - with that message for their communities.

“How can we pass our culture on if we continue to abuse our children - raising children successfully is crucial to the well being and survival of Maori,” said Druis Barrett, President of the Maori Women’s League. Barrett says known male abusers should be cast out from the marae, the foundation of NZ Maori society.

“And the women will not waiata (sing) for them” as is custom in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, in many Pacific islands, such as the Cooks, convicted child sexual abusers, after brief jail sentences, live with little stigma for their crimes against chil dren. Dr Gregory Dever, Director of the Micronesian Human Resources Development Centre in Pohnpei, says it was time Pacific women stood up and say “no more”.

“I’m surprised and disappointed in Pacific women because they have been very quiet in many quarters about child abuse and the abuse of women”. Dr Dever says he hopes to hear Pacific women say ing “we women of the Pacific are not going to take it anymore”. He says Pacific women and children are the ones who suffer the most in societies dominated by males. “I am wondering why the women are so silent, I am waiting for them to get angry”.

Dr Dever says Pacific island government’s need to be committed to equity and justice and there must be no more ambivalent atti tudes.

“Child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, has been hidden behind culture, we have been too silent”. Culture, he says, is no excuse for abuse. The Congress believes non-governmental organisations in the Pacific need to lobby their governments for law changes that provide greater protection for children.

The Cook Islands has yet to introduce a Children and Young Persons Act similar to that of New Zealand. What laws there are here date back to the beginning of the cen tury. Two years ago after al4 year old boy

was allegedly beaten by police officers dur

ing questioning,

Police Commissioner Tevai Matapo said it was time the country had an Act to protect children and young people. To date, noth ing has been done.

New Zealand’s Minister of Social Services, Roger Sowry said “there would be no more important conference in New Zealand this year than this (ISP CAN) conference which seeks to resolve the problems of child abuse and neglect”.

Dr lan Hassall, New Zealand con venor of the ISPCAN congress said the con gress was an expres sion of world-wide desire for action on behalf of children.

“We look to our

children and their need for care as a model of reinstating our care for one another in public policy,” said Dr Hassall. “All our children should have a sense of their place in the world and be recognised by that world”. For Pacific island delegates that all important fight has begun. ■

THE number of Pacific Islander and Maori young people becoming involved in youth crimes in Sydney has prompt ed social workers, church and commu nity leaders to find new strategies to tackle the problem.

At a recent community forum organised by the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), community leaders and social workers were asked to put forward ideas on how to help prevent young re-offenders. The forum targeted Pacific Islander groups from Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands.

The NSW Government introduced the Youth Justice Conferencing (YJC) scheme to reduce the number of young people appearing before the court sys tem. Primarily aimed at reducing the

number of first or second offenders, these young peo ple are now required to attend specially con vened mediation sessions. Here, through the new Young Offenders Act, implement ed by the NSW Government ear lier this year, the offenders comes face to face with their victims.

Each media tion session is chaired by a con ference convenor appointed by the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). The scheme has been in operation in the past year or so, and, accord ing to DJJ Director, Ms

Jenny Bargen, it has been very suc cessful. She suggested that at least 74 per cent of offenders who appeared before the conferencing schemes did not re-offend. Ms Maila Ponifasio, a Samoan by birth, understands and fully appreciates the need to reduce the