Indigenous Tiwi women strive to improve their lot

03/11/2009 0 Comments read Gender, Indigenous

By Neena Bhandari

Tiwi Islands (Australia), 03.11.2009 (Women’s Feature Service): Lynette De Santis, 45, was surprised when in October last year, she became the first elected Mayor of the Tiwi Islands Shire Council comprising Bathurst and Melville Islands with a largely indigenous Aboriginal population of 1,495 and 434. She had conquered what had thus far been a male bastion.

“It had become the norm that men would be chairperson, mayor or president so I was amazed when I was elected the first female Mayor. I have always stood up for the interests of my people and I suppose this resulted in my victory”, says De Santis, who was born and bred in Northern Territory’s capital Darwin and returned home to the islands in 1985.

Continue reading →

Australia says ‘sorry’ to Aboriginals for `Stolen Generations’

13/02/2008 0 Comments read Indigenous

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 13.02.2008 (IANS): In a symbolic yet significant act to undo the wrongs of the past, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Wednesday offered an unconditional apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs committed by the state in the past.

Amidst tears and cheers in the Federal Parliament in Canberra, Rudd said the long awaited “sorry” three times to members of the `Stolen Generations’ comprising tens and thousands of children who were forcibly removed from their families between 1900 and 1970 under the Government Assimilation Policies to “breed out” their Aborigine blood and supposedly give them a better life.

Continue reading →

Australia’s `Stifling blanket of silence’

15/09/2003 0 Comments read Gender, Indigenous

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 15.09.2003 (Panos Features UK): Elaine Shaw was repeatedly raped and sexually abused from the age of four by her father and uncles. Her partner physically assaulted and psychologically tormented her, locking her in a room for three years to separate her from the children.

Aboriginal women like Shaw – her name is changed to protect her identity – are 45 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than other Australians. And such violence is common in Australia: research shows 23% of all Australian women have been attacked by a partner or family member.

Says New South Wales magistrate Pat O’Shane, who is Aboriginal, “Women are subjected to violence daily, if not hourly, if not by the minute.”

Continue reading →