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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Pitcairn women blast sex trials
2004-09-29
Some women on the British Pacific colony of Pitcairn have criticised sex abuse trials due to get under way on the remote island on Wednesday.
"Yeah! We wuz abusin' them, too!"
Seven men, or half the adult male population of the tiny community, are facing more than 50 charges.
Of diddling half the female population of the tiny community?
At a public meeting on Pitcairn, female residents claimed it was customary for girls on the island to have sex as young as 12. Some alleged victims of abuse had been coerced into testifying, they said.
"If you don't testify, you don't get no candy!"
The accused include the island's mayor, Steve Christian, and his son Randy. Also facing charges are Len Brown, his son Dave, Jay Warren, Terry Young and Dennis Christian.
"Bring up the babes, Mr. Christian!"
"Aye-aye, Mr. Christian!"
Many of the women of Pitcairn, one of the world's most remote communities, believe that the charges against the seven are unfair.
"We wuz havin' fun, 'til them bluenoses showed up!"
The wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of some of the accused have spoken out to declare the men's innocence. They have insisted that while under-age sex was a traditional part of island life, it was consensual.
"So butt out! We got nothin' else to do on this gawdfersaken rock!"
Prosecutors have said there is an ingrained culture of using children for sex on the island, a tiny volcanic speck that lies half-way between New Zealand and Peru. The seven men are charged with various offences including rape.
Presumably statutory...
They are expected to mount a defence based on a challenge to Britain's authority over the island.
"Yeah! Piss off! It's our island! You got yer own island!"
Judges, lawyers and other court staff have made the long journey from New Zealand for the trial.
"Now looky here, Mr. Christian: we wait 'til the bluenoses are settled in, then you sneak Daisy into the judge's room and Mr. Christian'll sneak Trixie into the lawyer's room. Then Mr. Christian'll come bustin' through the judge's door with a camera an' Mr. Christian'll come bustin' through the lawyer's door with a camera! That'll fix 'em!"
"I dunno, Mr. Christian. Daisy's only nine!"
"Yeah, but she's got the body of a 12-year-old!"
The islanders are descendents of mutineers who seized control of the British navy vessel HMS Bounty in 1789. They landed on the uninhabited island of Pitcairn a year later with a group of Polynesian men and women and remained undiscovered for almost 20 years.
... and guess what they spent the time doing?
Posted by:tipper

#12  Sounds like the bureaucrats were getting bored and needed a salacious and titilating field trip to add zest to their otherwise boring lives. There are a few small communities in Alaska that have this problem, too, the names of which I will not mention.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-09-29 5:52:02 PM  

#11  SM: Right and Wrong are universal, immutable, and non-cultural.

Come to think of it, the problem with this statement is much more general. I think we need to come to terms with the fact that our values are not universal. Our enemies don't see themselves as the bad guys. During WWII, the Germans and the Japanese saw themselves as the guys in the white hats. Despite public declarations that the War on Terror involves common values, this is really a clash of civilizations. And the Muslims recognize it, although they shrink from all-out war because they recognize that in an overt war, they would be completely destroyed.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-09-29 2:16:09 PM  

#10  Secret Master: There is no other way to put this: adults having sex with 12-year-olds is wrong. It's wrong in France, it's wrong in Alabama, it's wrong in Vietnam, so it's damn well wrong on Pitcairn Island too. Right and Wrong are universal, immutable, and non-cultural.

Right and wrong are universal. What is defined as right and what is defined as wrong isn't. Specifically, the definition of adulthood isn't universal at all. In non-Western countries, the onset of puberty is defined as the point of adulthood. Note that these countries are typically much more conservative than the West, and unlike in the West, premarital sex at puberty is pretty much non-existent.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-09-29 2:09:50 PM  

#9  Folks - Here's somethig else in the mix. Back 150 years ago Seventh-Day Adventist missionaries went there and converted everyone...
Posted by: BigEd   2004-09-29 1:40:38 PM  

#8  
#6: Yeah, you're right. But the idea of flying an entire tribunal halfway across the Pacific to supervise the activities of a couple dozen people who're of no account at all to the rest of the world seems a bit over the top.

They've had 200 years to sort themselves out. There are a total of 14 men in the adult population of the island, with a total population well below 100. It seems to me that Darwin's doing a more effective job than the New Zealand legal beagles can ever do.
Posted by: Fred   2004-09-29 1:33:07 PM  

#7  Admiral Bligh was right.
Never trust a Manx.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-29 1:20:18 PM  

#6  There is no other way to put this: adults having sex with 12-year-olds is wrong. It's wrong in France, it's wrong in Alabama, it's wrong in Vietnam, so it's damn well wrong on Pitcairn Island too. Right and Wrong are universal, immutable, and non-cultural.

Does the English government have the right to enforce its laws out there? Maybe not, but I'm not real sympathetic in this particular case.
Posted by: Secret Master   2004-09-29 1:12:17 PM  

#5  Within the Muslim community in Afghanistan and Pakistan, although the accepted age of marriage for girls is 16, that's predominately in the urban areas. In rural areas, marriages as young as 10-12 are not uncommon. Should the daughter defile herself by having sexual relations, either before she's married, or with someone other than her spouse, she can be killed by either her father, male family members, or husband.

Therefore, for you Pitcairn folks...a conversion to Islam does hold hope...if you women are willing to accept the consequences.
Posted by: RN   2004-09-29 12:51:37 PM  

#4  heck didnt the first islanders, mutineers and accompanying tahitians, pretty much come close to killing each other off over women? Maybe its something in the genes.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-09-29 12:46:18 PM  

#3  of course, if they were muslims this would all be OK and they would be crying "racism!"
Posted by: Frank G   2004-09-29 12:38:26 PM  

#2  Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753 (England): The Act fixed the lower legal age of marriage as 14 for men and 12 for women. This was raised to 16 for both sexes in 1929. The Act applied only to England & Wales and came into force in 1754. Scotland and the Channel Islands were exempt from the legislation.

Therefore, it appears to me, that, since the island was so remote and they followed the customs of the time they settled on Pitcairn (1789)…they were just behind the times a bit, rather than flaunting the law.
Posted by: RN   2004-09-29 12:36:39 PM  

#1  Fletcher Christian must be spinning in his grave...

Clark Gable

Pitcairn

Posted by: BigEd   2004-09-29 12:25:34 PM  

00:00