In today’s edition of Take A Good Hard Look At Yourself, The Once Great Nation of Australia: Labor and The Greens are demanding an inquest into allegations of sexual abuse suffered by women and children at Nauru detention centre.
The claims – if true – are harrowing. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said women inside the centre were routinely forced to strip and provide guards with sexual favours in exchange for basic human amenities like showers. She also claimed that children had been forced to have sex in front of security guards.
“The culture inside the Nauru detention camp is toxic,” she said. “It’s dangerous for children and coupled with all of that, we’ve seen over the last few days – young people and children – now not only witnessing self-harm and suicide attempts, but participating in that themselves.”
Labor frontbencher and former immigration minister Chris Bowen said a full investigation was paramount in the face of such atrocious human rights violations. “Any report like that is concerning,” he said. “And the appropriate thing when you have…allegations like that is a proper and thorough investigation and full transparency from the government.”
The facility, condemned by Amnesty International as “a human rights catastrophe…a toxic mix of uncertainty, unlawful detention and inhumane conditions”, again made headlines last week when a 15-year-old asylum seeker was evacuated to Australia after she reportedly attempted to harm herself.
Via ABC
