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
Read more about Little Children Are Sacred: Recommendations
Famous quotes containing the words children and/or sacred:
“Common sense should tell us that reading is the ultimate weapon—destroying ignorance, poverty and despair before they can destroy us. A nation that doesn’t read much doesn’t know much. And a nation that doesn’t know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box and the voting booth...The challenge, therefore, is to convince future generations of children that carrying a book is more rewarding than carrying guns.”
—Jim Trelease (20th century)
“During the first formative centuries of its existence, Christianity was separated from and indeed antagonistic to the state, with which it only later became involved. From the lifetime of its founder, Islam was the state, and the identity of religion and government is indelibly stamped on the memories and awareness of the faithful from their own sacred writings, history, and experience.”
—Bernard Lewis, U.S. Middle Eastern specialist. Islam and the West, ch. 8, Oxford University Press (1993)