The Shame

Episode of Series “Four corners (Television program)”.
This program discusses domestic violence and sexual abuse in the Aboriginal communities in regional and outback Australia, where Aboriginal women are fifteen times more likely to be hospitalised and ten times more likely to die from domestic assaults than their white counterparts. There is also a frighteningly high rate of sexual abuse of young Aboriginal children and as Patrick Dodson (Chairman, Reconciliation Council 1991-97) quite poignantly remarks “At stake is the survival of Aboriginal people”. Rather than laying blame, reporter Liz Jackson attempts to find out why domestic abuse is so prevalent and what, if anything, is being done to improve conditions for the Aboriginal communities. Unemployment, alcohol abuse, boredom, low self-esteem, and cultural rituals contribute, it would appear, to the Aboriginal male aggression towards their family, and particularly their wives. Through interviews and personal stories, “The Shame” provides an insight into this most disturbing and tragic situation which exists among the indigenous people of Australia.