Thursday, September 30, 2004
Half of Pitcairn Island's men on trial for sexual abuseHalf the adult male population (that, is seven men) on the tiny island nation of Pitcairn are on trial for sexual abuse of children. The Island's mayor and son are included in the accused. Some of the islanders say that the practice of having sex with children is an accepted custom on the island (as it is on a few other South Pacific islands) and have come to the defense of the men.
Because Pitcairn (the famous island where the Bounty mutineers ended up) is a British territory, a bunch of people from New Zealand have descended on the island to hold the trial (which is starting this week) there. It's extraordinarily difficult to get on the island. No airstrip, too far for helicopter, no place to bring in a ship. To get there, you have to take a plane to one of the outer islands of Tahiti, then take a two day boat ride. There's no beach, just rocks and cliffs.
Cyrus Farivar has collected several relevant links in this blog entry. Link
posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 08:58:16 AM
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