Grandfather of 17-year-old Fionica James, Andrew Dowadi, outside the Darwin Local Court during an inquest into her death. Picture: Che Chorley.
The grandfather of a dead Aboriginal girl who repeatedly caught sexually transmitted infections while underage has demanded to know why authorities failed to investigate “who had assaulted her” and accused them of treating her “like an adult”.
But authorities have attributed the problems to a prevailing philosophy of “cultural rights trump(ing) human rights” and service staff’s reluctance to become involved in prosecutions.
A government source said children were often pressured by relatives not to disclose what had happened to them, out of fear that official reports would see community members taken away.
“There can be payback as a result of saying who they had sex with,” the source said. “How does one challenge that? If more people talk, more victims will be identified and there will be more community members upset.”…..
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/girls-stis-red-light-but-no-action/news-story/fd88f3d5a02a3c7faff2dd0d4747c3e8
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