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Opinion piece by Christine Rankin
27 January 2008
'Another
one bites the dust'... Another baby is dead. |
For
some reason that I simply cannot fathom we fail as a Nation to understand
or respond to this hugely embarrassing and destructive issue. If we are
not embarrassed by it, we damned well should be. We are rated by the OECD
to be at the top of world statistics for child abuse and murder.
And
why in this fantastic little country that many believe is paradise -
God’s own.
Quite
frankly I think God is horrified in terms of what we allow to be done to
our babies, these young souls, the future of our nation, the participants,
the contributors, the leaders.
I
now fully understand through my work with ‘For The Sake Of Our Children
Trust’, something that a growing number of New Zealander’s are slowly
coming to understanding to. That the 10-12 child murders that occur
annually in New Zealand are the tip of the very ugliest iceberg.
Beneath
these babies whose lives have been cut tragically short, (usually after
months and years of brutality at the hands of their so called caregivers)
is another time bomb.
Thousands
of New Zealand children are beaten and sexually abused (often both) every
day of the year. I believe that a high proportion of these babies go on to
become our criminals, rapists, paedophiles, murderer’s, and why not!
They grow up very angry surrounded by daily violence often fuelled by
drugs and alcohol.
We are what we see
unless a miracle happens.
Needless
to say they have no self esteem, no confidence and certainly no ambition,
with the exception of course, of joining a gang! - The family substitute.
We
have lost sight as a society of the vital effect of the family on any
child. It is beyond doubt that children who grow up in a home with a
mother and father who love them and who love each other fare best.
A
number of people go on to break the cycle of abuse almost always because
of the intervention of one or more mentors who through love, support,
challenge and discipline help change that life.
Many
however instinctively choose life situations that recreate the environment
they have grown up in and so the cycle goes on.
There
are currently around 70,000 cases of suspected abuse reported to CY&F
annually. This organisation who arrogantly claims to be doing such a good
job is overwhelmed by the workload they face.
However
I want to be very clear that it is not CY&F’s fault that children
are abused. I do not blame this organisation for our disgraceful
statistics.
Every parent in this
country is responsible for the safety and well being of the children they
choose to bring into the world.
It
is not the politician’s fault either but they are elected to give
leadership to the major issues facing this country and the response to
this one is like using a sprinkler on a bushfire.
The
anti smacking bill for example is not just unwanted by 85% of New
Zealander’s but is a smoke screen. Well intentioned liberals determined
to make ordinary citizens into criminals, while we ignore the real issue.
How traumatic is an investigation for that child and its family over a
smack on the hand.
Yet
horrifying child abuse is occurring every day and
in my opinion the leadership, is just not there.
If we are serious about
addressing the real issues, urgent and tough action is required.
Two
OECD reports and one from CY&F’s tell us that, drugs and alcohol are
the primary cause of dysfunction and abuse.
What real debate have
any of us heard on this one?
We
must stop being politically correct, lets talk about the situation with
Maori. We must talk about it because what we ignore remains the same.
There is a problem here, 60% of the abuse statistics are created by 14% of
the population. Maori have undergone a renaissance and this can only be
positive but how can Maori or any of us ignore this ugliness. There are a
group of powerful Maori lead by Paora Maxwell who have met to discuss this
challenge and I am grateful for this initiative.
Rapid action is
imperative.
As
a Nation we have to shake ourselves out of our complacency. We must stand
up and say we really have had enough!!!
Changing the penalties would be a great and easy message to the
monsters that abuse and murder. Our sentencing of child offending is
laughable compared with other countries.
The
murderers of little Nagatikaura Ngati whose injuries police said we’re
the worst they had seen we’re convicted of ‘manslaughter’ and given
an 8 year sentence with 4 ½ years non parole. To cap it off, our
Children’s Commissioner disagreed with the judge’s decision to allow
photos of his battered little body to be made public, because his family
had been through enough! This so called mother will be able to produce as
many extra children as she wishes and CY&F will watch to see if abuse
occurs. (Remember the Kahui’s ) Oh
please….
People
comment to me on a regular basis that there is so much that is wrong but
that we can’t change it because nobody listens.
Of course we can!
We
don’t yell loudly enough! We are far to laid back waiting until it is
too late to make our feelings known.
We must fight for the
country we want and this is a big and dangerous issue.
These babies can’t
fight for themselves.
We
advocate several things to those wanting to know what they can do.
-
Protect
the babies in your family no matter what.
-
Become
a ‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER” in an abused child’s life. It really can
make a huge difference.
-
Express
your horror to this situation by:
-
Phoning
talkback
-
Writing
to the Editors of Local and National Newspapers
-
Writing
to the Prime Minister
-
Writing
to you local MP
-
Joining
Protests
-
And
report abuse to the police
New
Zealand does have enormous potential but not only must we concentrate on
all that is good and support each other in prosperity and happiness.
We must also stand up
for those who cannot stand up for themselves and make those responsible
truly pay.
If you
would like to comment on this issue please click
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