"Violence/abuse against women and children is part of traditional Indigenous culture"
Sexual assault, particularly child sexual assault, forms no part of Indigenous culture and a multitude of authoritative national reports have shown this to be a myth.17 While there used to be systems of punishment for people who contravened community regulations, including physical punishment, violence and sexual abuse against women and children has never formed part of traditional cultural practices and it is considered abhorrent by Indigenous men and women of all generations.18
Such behaviour is learnt and has been found to be generational and cyclical; abusers have often been victims of abuse themselves. The literature on abuse is clear - that the trauma suffered by one victim will often manifest in that victim being a perpetrator of similar crimes to others later in life.19
The colonial experience has left a legacy of sexual abuse in many Indigenous communities: as long ago as 1898, Northern Territory Judge Charles Dashwood urged for laws to prevent European settler’s kidnapping Aboriginal children ‘for the purpose of having carnal knowledge or intercourse’ on stations far away from their homelands.20 The recent report on abuse in the Northern Territory by Pat Anderson and Rex Wilde states: ‘sexual abuse of children is not restricted to those of Aboriginal descent, nor committed only by those of Aboriginal descent. The phenomenon knows no racial, age or gender borders. It is a national and international problem.’
17 Atkinson 1990, reported by Greer 1992, Tatz 2001 (Also, Children are sacred p.58; Gordon et al. 2000; HREOC 2006; Law Reform Commission of WA 2006).
18 Little Children are Sacred p.59
19 For example, Little Children are Sacred p.67 and NSW Attorney-General report
20 Select Committee of the Legislative Council on the Aborigines Bill, 1899, 4. Cited in Stephen Gray ‘the elephant in the drawing room’ in Australian Indigenous Law Review vol.11 no.1 p.41