Our Greatest Challenge: Aboriginal children and human rights

Hannah McGlade argues that Aboriginal child sexual assault has been formed within the entrenched societal forces of racism, colonisation and patriarchy, yet cast in the Australian public domain as an Aboriginal ‘problem’.
 
She believes that we should be guided by Indigenous human rights concepts and international Indigenous responses to help to stem the harm to our future generations.

Summary

2012, RRP $39.95 incl. GST, 230x152mm, 304pp,
ISBN 09781922059109 (pb) ISBN 9781922059116 (ebook PDF) 9781922059123, (ePub) 9781922059130
(Kindle)

Hannah McGlade's new book bravely addresses the complex and fraught issue of Aboriginal child abuse. She argues that Aboriginal child sexual assault has been formed within the entrenched societal forces of racism, colonisation and patriarchy, yet cast in the Australian public domain as an Aboriginal 'problem', with controversial government responses critiqued as racist and paternalistic.

McGlade highlights that non-Aboriginal society has yet to acknowledge the traumatic impacts of the sexual assault of Aboriginal children which was part and parcel of the European project of 'civilisation'.

She provides detailed analysis of the legal systems response. While child sexual assault is a criminal offence, the Aboriginal experience of the law is tainted.

Despite reforms to the law, the courtroom experience is based on re-victimisation and trauma which prevents the fundamental principle of equality before the law.

McGlade believes that we should be guided by Indigenous human rights concepts and international Indigenous responses in addressing the problem. In doing so she believes that we can help to stem the harm to future generations.

Reviews and endorsements

This book should be compulsory reading for judges, lawyers and human service professionals whose work involves children.
 

[McGlade) analyses the failure of government responses, and in particular the failure to develop processes which would facilitate Aboriginal communities working in partnership with government to solve the problem of Aboriginal child sexual assault.
 

Professional understanding, combined with painful personal experience, make this a work of compelling advocacy for children's rights to protection.
 

...a passionate reminder of a child's right to security of their person, their dignity and their right to grow and prosper in an environment that supports and fosters their chances.
 

Our Greatest Challenge is not a comfortable read and McGlade is a fearless writer. There is something very direct about her criticisms of those with whose views she disagrees but the book is meticulously researched and I doubt that anyone would claim that they are misquoted or misrepresented.