Little Children are Sacred is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, was publicly released on 15 June 2007. The inquiry, chaired by Rex Wild and Patricia Anderson, was established in August 2006 and investigated ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. The Wild/Anderson report is the latest commissioned by the Australian government to investigate this topic, the first report that raised public attention was written by Janet Stanley in 2003.
The report concluded that sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities had reached crisis levels, demanding that it "be designated as an issue of urgent national significance by both the Australian and Northern Territory governments."
The release of the report prompted the Australian Government to launch the Northern Territory National Emergency Response on 21 June 2007, which is in the process of being replaced by the Stronger Futures Policy of 2011.
The Clare Martin government responded denying inaction and released its detailed response Closing the Gap of Indigenous Disadvantage: Generational Plan of Action in August 2007
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Famous quotes containing the words children and/or sacred:
“However diligent she may be, however dedicated, no mother can escape the larger influences of culture, biology, fate . . . until we can actually live in a society where mothers and children genuinely matter, ours is an essentially powerless responsibility. Mothers carry out most of the work orders, but most of the rules governing our lives are shaped by outside influences.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“The scholar was not raised by the sacred thoughts amongst which he dwelt, but used them to selfish ends. He was a profane person, and became a showman, turning his gifts to marketable use, and not to his own sustenance and growth. It was found that the intellect could be independently developed, that is, in separation from the man, as any single organ can be invigorated, and the result was monstrous.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)