| ISBN |
9780980292404 : |
| Name |
Nowra, Louis, 1950- |
| Title |
Bad dreaming : Aboriginal men's violence against women and children / Louis Nowra. |
| Published |
North Melbourne, Vic. : Pluto Press, 2007. |
| Description |
ix, 102, [16] p. ; 24 cm. |
| Notes |
Bibliography: p. 95-102. |
| Summary |
"The sensitive issue of Aboriginal male violence against women and children has only recently surfaced with disturbing media reports of an epidemic of Aboriginal male violence by ABC TV's Lateline program and the Australian newspaper. The issue is such a culturally sensitive one and to write about it is highly controversial but eminent Australian playwright and author Louis Nowra strongly believes that the issue is so important that it must be openly addressed and dealt with immediately. In this NOW Australia, Louis Nowra goes behind the media headlines and reveals the endemic male Aboriginal sexual and domestic violence against women and children. He tries to answer the question whether this violence is traditional or a product of two hundred years of white settlement. He examines traditional Aboriginal life and cites observations by early settlers, explorers and anthropologists. His examination of the problem of male violence ranges right across the country, including urban communities. |
| Louis Nowra has a profound interest and respect for Aboriginal culture and said he was moved to write about the issue when he read of the anal rape of a 13 year-old girl 'promised' to an Aboriginal elder and, almost at the same time, he spent three days in the Alice Springs Hospital surrounded by bashed women and girls and wondered why no male had written about this problem although a few brave women had. It is a man's problem and one that our society must deal with immediately. A wide range of reports from various governments, health professionals, the media and from Aboriginal women and men are examined. Louis Nowra studies Aboriginal male culture and its attitude towards women and girls before the coming of the white man then looks at the terrifying reality of domestic violence and sexual abuse of young girls in many Aboriginal communities and concludes that Aboriginal men are the answer to the problem and that they have to face many important questions, most importantly - has Aboriginal culture contributed towards this situation and what does it mean when Aboriginal men defend their violence or sexual abuse as 'traditional'? |
| Louis Nowra also takes on the 'forbidden' topic of Aboriginal homosexuality and provides case studies that deal with the abuse and corruption of young boys the hidden world of male initiation and 'men's business'. This issue is one that the Australian nation and people can no longer ignore and if Louis Nowra does one thing by writing this book it is to bring the issue to public attention in such a way that the whole community - Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal can take effective action to stop a violence that should be unacceptable in any society that cares about its women and the young. Australia has never faced this issue in the way New Zealand did with the book, Once Were Warriors, the film of which changed some Maori male behaviour." -- Publisher's website. |
| Subjects |
Women, Aboriginal Australian -- Violence against |
| Children, Aboriginal Australian -- Abuse of |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Social life and customs |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Social conditions |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Legal status, laws, etc |
| Series |
Now Australia 3 |
| Links to Related Works |
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