This morning I woke to read in the Sydney Morning Herald about a man that has killed a rabbi and three children in a Jewish school in France. This comes after recent news about children killed in Afghanistan by an American Soldier and the release of the horrific Kony 2012 documentary which outlines how one man has led to the mutilation and torture of many young people who have been recruited as sex slaves and boy soldiers, and forced to kill their own parents.
Issues of child abuse such as these, spread far and wide across the world but here in Australia we have a sense of smugness about how lucky and safe our children are. But that smugness is a lie. Children in Australia are our most vulnerable, they need our protection and yet adults are disconnecting from our kids at our own peril.
The very fact that one in five children* in Australia today are sexually abused, is example enough that our children are no safer to those from other countries. For years I have questioned who is willing to stand up for the 20,000 Australian children** who become victims of physical and sexual assault here in our lucky country. These figures are horrific and our belief that our children are being protected is a false one considering the long term and traumatic effects of these experiences that these kids carry with them. After 38 years of experience with youth, I know that sexual abuse destroys lives, families and generations and yet we are too scared to put this issue on the national agenda. We are facing a massive endemic problem about the protection of kids and yet we are too afraid to know of the truths of child abuse.
Yesterday, the 21st of March, marked Harmony Day and, in recognising this day, I ask that Australia acknowledges the need to take notice of our children, no matter their culture, no matter their geographic location. We are forgetting the kids right here, in Australia, that need our support. We are a community and as a community we need to start protecting our young people – this is something that crosses nationalities. Harmony Day is about celebrating the commonalities between families, and the safety of our children should be something that all our families focus on every day. We need to put child protection on our national agenda!
Father Chris Riley
