Indigenous advocates have raised the alarm after the federal government’s rapid review expert panel on family and domestic violence was revealed to not include any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women.
Dr McGlade said excluding Indigenous women from the Expert Panel “doesn’t respect the principle of Aboriginal women’s rights to self determination and risks neglecting Aboriginal women’s knowledge and expertise on violence”.
Commissioner Cronin said on Tuesday evening in senate estimates that the panel was intended to be a small group that could be brought together quickly and is not a representative group, in recognition that there has already been extensive consultation.
The government has also said the panel will work closely with the existing advisory groups leading important work under the National Plan including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council and the First Nations National Plan Steering Committee.
Source: Outcry sparked as federal government’s family and d… | NIT
The problem is that if you are to get to the heart of the Indigenous DV nightmare you will need to include traditional indigenous women who speak English as a second or third language.
These are the women from remote communities who will be scared to speak out because of traditional payback.
To hear from indigenous women who are really at risk you will need to put aside so many of the fantasies we have about indigenous life and the ‘custodians of the land’ stuff and really be prepared to see the horror that is our remote communities with their unmitigated violence where women and children are powerless in ways we cannot even imagine.
We love to throw platitudes around about indigenous life but are scared to really look below the surface because firstly it is horrendous, secondly it’s third world and thirdly the solutions are not those that you can just throw money at.