By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 22.05.2006 (IPS): Revelations of horrific levels of sexual abuse and violence suffered by women and children in Australia’s aboriginal communities have surfaced, even as the fifth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is underway in New York.
A leaked confidential briefing paper by Nanette Rogers, government prosecutor in the Northern Territory, exposes how indigenous culture and close-knit kinship ties have helped create a blanket of silence over rampant violence against women and children.