Are Indigenous perpetrators homogeneous?

In particular I criticised the farcical and offensively lenient one-month sentence handed down by Northern Territory Chief Justice Brian Martin to the 55-year-old Aboriginal Elder for his hideous crime.

The court heard the elder was promised the girl when she was four, and became angry when he heard she had struck up a friendship with an 18-year-old man in June 2004. He beat her with a boomerang, then took her to his remote out-station - where he lived with his first wife - and forced her to have anal sex.

On sentencing the elder on August 11, 2005, Chief Justice Martin took into account the fact the girl was the man’s promised wife under Ngarinaman law. He said he was satisfied the man believed the sexual assault was acceptable because the girl had been promised to him and had reached the age of 14.

I noted in my article how obtuse Chief Justice Martin’s ruling was when statutory law states that it is a criminal offence to have a sex with anyone under the age of 16.

I made this observation as I felt Chief Justice Martin’s excuse to down grade this abhorrent sexual assault on a child to the status of a minor crime, because it was done under Aboriginal lore, in fact makes a mockery of western law.

This appalling example of sexual abuse and many other similar acts of depravity against our children that occur habitually around this country clearly demonstrates that Indigenous traditional mores have been conveniently misinterpreted and misused by some Indigenous men, with tainted intent, who have an inflated view of themselves and their standing in their community.

It was never a cultural trait to wilfully violate the innocence of our children or brutalise our women, and it never will be. Those who do so should feel the full weight of western law and not an expediently diluted version of traditional lore.

I don’t believe that Indigenous perpetrators are homogeneous but I do believe there are some of our men and women who need to take a hard look at themselves and seriously consider giving up alcohol and/or drugs and/or gambling and/or their insane jealousy conspiracy theories for the sake of their family and also for their financial, physical and mental well being.