Extract: Australian advertisers accused of “corporate paedophilia’
(AFP), 10 October 2006, SYDNEY
"Advertising that exploits children’s sexuality for commercial gain is on the rise in
Australia as big retailers lend an air of respectability to “corporate paedophiles,” researchers said on Tuesday.
An increasing number of businesses found it acceptable to eroticise young models for profit,
increasing children’s risk from sexual predators and robbing them of their childhood,
the
Australia Institute
think tank said.
Institute director Clive Hamilton said it was
particularly worrying that the phenomenon had entered the mainstream and
condemned major retail chains for jumping on the bandwagon.
“When family department stores show no conscience on these issues, or are
inured to the effects of their behaviour, the situation is very unhealthy,” he said.
In a report the independent public policy research centre said children as young as
three were being made to pose in sexually suggestive positions."
An extract from one of thew orld's media organisation reporting on a publication by the Australia Institute titled
: Corporate Paedophilia, Sexualisation of children in Australia, Emma Rush Andrea La Nauze, Discussion Paper Number 90
October 2006, ISSN 1322-5421.
Ever since he first started practicing, Berkeley, Calif.,
psychologist Allen D. Kanner, PhD, has been asking his younger clients what they wanted to do
when they grew up. The answer used to be "nurse," "astronaut" or some other occupation with intrinsic appeal.
Today the answer is more likely to be "make money." For Kanner, one explanation for that shift can be found in advertising.
"Advertising is a massive, multi-million dollar project that's having an enormous impact on child
development," says Kanner, who is also an associate faculty member at a clinical psychology
training program called the Wright Institute. "
In Australia, federal, state and territory governments have refused to legislate
minimum standards and curb advertising to children. The
reason is that the grocery industry, manufacturers and the media (who receive the money from advertising)
are rich and politically powerful. The federal Minister for Health, in 2006, Tony Abott, and others in parliaments argue that
parents should educate their children and be responsible in allowing in what they buy, what they eat, what they see and what they hear.
Rather than be cynical about the
conflict of interest relationships from a political persoective
I might content that Australia's political leaders have not studied the
psychology of advertising and the art of manipulation in detail. (Kevin R Beck, owner of the Mosaic Portal on the web, 2006).
"An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions
of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides
in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but
invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations." (Source: UNICEF,Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse)
"The Board of Inquiry was created by the Northern Territory Government in August 2006 to research and report on allegations
of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. The Chief Minister asked the Inquiry to investigate concerns about serious child sexual abuse
in Aboriginal communities. The Inquiry was established to find better ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. (2006, the Northern Territory of Australia)
Aboriginal child abuse and the NT Intervention, Jun 29th, 2008 by reconciliaction, Update June 2008
In 2007, in response to the Northern Territory Report into sexual abuse – called
Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Makarle (Little Children are Sacred)
– the Howard Government announced a national emergency in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
The Government’s ‘NT Intervention’ involved sending police and the army into remote communities, alcohol bans,
winding back Aboriginal land rights under the NT Aboriginal Land Rights Act, health checks for
Aboriginal children and the quarantining of welfare payments in 73 Aboriginal communities.
Go to the source document
Child sexual abuse is serious, widespread and often unreported.
Most Aboriginal people are willing and committed to solving problems and helping their children. They are also eager to better educate themselves.
Aboriginal people are not the only victims and not the only perpetrators of sexual abuse.
Much of the violence and sexual abuse occurring in Territory communities is a reflection of past, current and continuing
social problems which have developed over many decades.
The combined effects of poor health, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, gambling,
pornography, poor education and housing, and a general loss of identity and control have contributed to violence and to sexual abuse in many forms.
Existing government programs to help Aboriginal people break the cycle of poverty and violence need to work better. There is not enough coordination and communication between government departments and agencies, and this is causing a breakdown in services and poor crisis intervention.
Improvements in health and social services are desperately needed.
Go to: Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Makarle (Little Children are Sacred)
Fast forward to 2009 - 2010
"The Northern Territory government's abuse of Aboriginal children has now been laid bare for all to see.
The tragic death of young Deborah Melville should never be forgotten. While a NT jury acquitted her
Aboriginal foster carers of manslaughter the facts speak for themselves. Deborah died an
excruciating death from an infection that had spread through her body. She received no medical
assistance and languished in the dirt of her foster carer's backyard. A government child protection
worker visited her only a day before her death and told her, presumably as she lay dying, - 'I'm not here to take you away'.
The inhumanity of this case is compounded by evidence of systemic human rights abuses of Aboriginal children authorised
within the operation and under the guise of 'child protection'." (Source: Sacred yet unprotected
Thursday 18 February, 2010, Hannah McGlade, Your Voice ABC.net.au Australia)
Go to source story.
A sad chapter of Aboriginal health is the sexual health and abuse, especially of children....
As a consequence of dysfunctional families Aboriginal children are exposed to adult sexual behaviour, neglect and violence."
Go to full source articles
This article describes and evaluates some of the criteria on the basis of which food advertising to
children on television could be regulated, including controls that revolve around the type of television programme,
the type of product, the target audience
and the time of day. Each of these criteria potentially functions as a conceptual device or "axis" around
which regulation rotates....
Go to source
"Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws completely vindicate claims by The Australia
Institute that retailer David Jones used advertisements that sexualised children as young as 10, according to advocacy group Kids Free 2B Kids.
The documents reveal a brief asking for girls aged 10 and 12 to be “more adult and sexy”. The girls appeared in an
Alison Ashley advertisement created by the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi for David Jones.
“Saatchi & Saatchi hired a top law firm to fight tooth and nail to prevent these documents being released but, after a
year-long battle and various appeals, the NSW Ombudsman has finally ordered that some of the material be handed over”,
said Kids Free 2B Kids Executive Director Julie Gale."
Go to source Australian Women On Line
Sexualisation of kids in media, Author: Lyn Allison
Summary: Australian Democrats leader Senator Lyn Allison raises concerns about the sexualisation of children in the media and advertising.
We’re forcing our children to become sexual beings before they’re ready. Media and advertising agencies are turning kids,
particularly young girls, into sexual commodities — and the effect is devastating.
The sexualisation of children can have grave psychological implications. We know that the exploitation of adolescents as sexual objects increases the risk of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and low self-esteem.
Body image fears can act as a barrier to young girls’ participation in sport, and the time, money and mental
energy they devote to their appearance distracts from other developmental activities — physical, intellectual and artistic.
This trend also encourages children to initiate sexual behaviour at an earlier age, before they fully understand the consequences.
It’s leading to a higher incidence of unwanted sex and is aiding the spread of sexually transmitted infections.
Psychologists warn that the sexualisation of children could play a role in “grooming” children for paedophiles.
For example, most girls’ magazines actively encourage primary school girls to have “crushes” on adult male celebrities." (Australian Democrats Election 2010)
Go to source
In the modern world of 2010, the sexualisation of children the world over:
Go to sources
In Victoria, Australia, children are at risk every day. The government under the Ministry of Ms Lisa Neville, and her failing Human Services Department, has a litany of
cases where children have been abused, ignored or been simply forgotten.
"Ms Neville was responding to the case of a toddler who was taken out of her mother's care after the girl was admitted to hospital for taking ecstasy.
The two-and-a-half-year-old girl and two siblings were placed in the care of their grandmother for nearly two
years after it was revealed they were living in "filthy" conditions.
But the children were returned to their mother's care in March after the department failed to extend a court order. (Source: Staff writers From: Herald Sun Melbourne,
October 19, 2010)....."Community Services Minister Lisa Neville refuses to resign after damning Ombudsman's report, Stephen McMahon, Padraic Murphy From: Herald Sun November 27, 2009
VICTORIA'S vulnerable children have been left exposed to pedophiles but embattled Community Services Minister Lisa Neville refuses to step down.
A scathing Ombudsman report revealed almost a quarter of abused children were not given case workers.
It also found that children had been put in the care of sex offenders or even died while in care....... "Minister Lisa Neville and government have let down abused children, Comment by Stephen McMahon From: Herald Sun May 26, 2010
IT is a betrayal of trust. The State Government and Community Services Minister Lisa Neville have let down the most vulnerable in our community - abused children."
Go to articles, full extracts and sources
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