Developing Indigenous human rightsbased instruments and mechanisms for
Developing Indigenous human rights-based instruments and mechanisms for observation and evaluation of child welfare policies within the context of family violence among Aboriginal Australian communities Yolande Grace Nziou Human Development Capability Association, Int’l Conference, Amman, Jordan, 21 -23 September 2010
UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, 1982 l First Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples , 1995, 2004 l United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2003 l UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples , 2007: the most significant achievement for Indigenous Rights at the international level l Two main subject areas: • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and • Rights to effective Participation and Self-determination. Human Rights Enforcement , Contributions and Limits of the System How governments comply with the policies and processes that they have established or act in accordance with the international obligations under international treaties
The Rights to Self-Determination Article 3 “Indigenous peoples have the rights to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development Self-Determination as the guiding principle for Government Policy in Indigenous Affairs l Other Meanings Guaranteed full, free and effective participation in all aspects of public life, particularly government decision-making l An on-going process of choice, participation and control for the achievement of human security and fulfilment of human needs, recognised as the principle of free, prior and informed consent l The freedom for indigenous people to decide its own destiny, to live well, to live according to their own values and beliefs, and to be respected by their non-indigenous neighbours l
Ensuring the rights of Indigenous Children – CRC The Convention on the Rights for Children is guided by what is their best interest (respect, nurturing, well-being, participation and protection) Article 30 specifically addresses their reality: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origins exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language. ” UN Sub Group on Indigenous Children and Young People (ISG) – formed in October 2005 l Member of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC) l First and only international body dedicated to Indigenous children l
Despite these advances, around the world indigenous children consistently number among the most marginalized groups in society and are frequently denied the enjoyment of their rights, including the highest attainable standard of health, education, protection and participation in decision-making processes that are relevant to their lives. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre “Most Indigenous Peoples from wealth countries such as New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia still live in worse socioeconomic conditions than their non-indigenous counterparts”. Historical Circumstances: l Discrimination l Oppression l Marginalisation l Exploitation l Child Removal l And even genocide. Situational Factors: l Poverty, Unemployment, l Lack of access to relevant basic social services, education and community infrastructure l Damage to cultural social cohesion, traditional knowledge, and community institutions l Multi-generational trauma, unresolved grief l Alcohol & substance abuse, mental
Australia – Articles Reports « Numerous reports, government inquiries or policies, anti-violence campaign have emerged describing the alarmong levels of violence and endemic destruction in many Aboriginal communities » and its impact on indigenous women, their children, their families and communities. “While the statistics may vary across states/territories and within individual communities, and may not always be available or methodologically reliable, “the statistics that do exist are sufficient to demonstrate that disproportionate occurrence of violence in the Indigenous communities of Australia and the traumatic impact on Indigenous people”. “Indigenous women constitute the fastest growing prison population in Australia… most of them have suffered sexual assault as children, and most have experienced family violence either as a child or as an adult “ HREOC, Sydney, June 2006 Monique Keel, ACSSA, September 2004 Ending Family Violence and Abuse in ATSI communities Family Violence and sexual assault in indigenous communities “ Walking the talk” Kyllie Cripps, Ph. D Melbourne University, 2004 Council of Australian Governments, Canberra, 2004) Enough Family Fighting: Indigenous Community Responses to Addressing Family Violence in Australia and the US National Framework for Preventing Family Violence and Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities
There are various intervention and prevention programs and approaches to addressing family violence in Indigenous communities among federal, State and Territory governments: l l Support programs – counselling Identity programs – developing a sense of self-worth Behavioural change – men and women’s groups Night patrols – control of anti-social behaviour and criminal infraction l l Refuges and shelters Justice programs – traditional mediation between people in conflict (punishment, sentencing, prevention of recidivism) Dispute resolution Education and awareness raising Rarely address the determinants of violence at multiple levels - intervention rather than prevention or support Focus on victim or perpetrators without considering the familial and cultural context as well both historical and present day issues. Lack of coordination and consistency between governments and agencies. Unequal Relationships between governments and indigenous people : conditional, often set by governments with limited understandings of Indigenous cultural protocols, ethics and knowledge systems
Articles Reports Telegraph - By Bonnie Malkin | January 3, 2009 “More Aboriginal children put into care now than during 'Stolen Generations‘ “ The Australian – By Caroline Overington | November 24, 2008 “WELFARE workers in NSW are removing Aboriginal children from their homes in numbers far greater than during the Stolen Generations”. Bringing Them Home, 1997 The stolen children report State of Denial, SNAICC, 2003 The Neglect and Abuse of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory Through Black Young Eyes, SNAICC, 2002, 2005 Responding to Domestic Violence in Aboriginal… Communities Little Children are Sacred, report
Contextual Issues “ Poverty and disadvantages are the major cause of child removal from Aboriginal families – not inappropriate parenting or the abuse of children”. The over-representation of Indigenous children in the child protection system Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are significantly over represented in the protection and care system of all States and Territories (in relation to their population). l 2. 7% of Indigenous children in Australia l 20% of Indigenous children placed in out-of-home care l Six times more likely than non-indigenous children to be subject to protective orders l Nine times more likely than a non-Indigenous child to be placed on a care and
" The statistics of infant and perinatal mortality are our babies and children who die in our arms…The statistics of shortened life expectancy are our mothers and fathers, uncles, aunties and elders who live diminished lives and die before their gifts of knowledge and experience are passed on. We die silently under these statistics. . . " "Professor Mick Dodson. Quoted from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Social Justice Report 2005 “We had our right to determine our children’s future removed from us in the past. Self determination means decisions made for our children must be made by our people. We cannot allow government child protection strategies to fail our children. ’ Garry Matthews - Chief Executive Officer, Coffs Harbour Aboriginal Family Community Care Centre – NSW; SNAICC Deputy Chairperson (Child Welfare)
The Stolen Generation - Bringing them Home “High proportion of Aboriginal children in care is part of the legacy of the Stolen Generations “. “All Aboriginal families were affected by the stigma created by the Stolen Generations “ “Separated children tend to experience a lack of permanence, feelings of not belonging and not being loved, and are sometimes exposed to further abuse”… “removed from their families, they are removed from their culture, rupturing the transmission of Indigenous culture and identity from generation to generation”. “ For us to deal with child abuse and neglect in our society today, we cannot pretend that the past does not exist, as the symptoms of today are the results of the past colonial practices of abuse”. Comment from an Australian Aboriginal survivor of childhood maltreatment, 1995 Child Welfare Practices (1869 - 1970 s) : Control and Forcible Child Welfare Practices (1869 - 1970 s) Removable of Aboriginal Children from their Families
Current Child Protection Policies – Self Determination The Permanency of Planning Movement Consensus around the world based on early childhood development research: Security, Stability as vital parts of childhood development Aboriginal Child Placement Principle Adopted in legislation (1997) in some form in all state and territories, the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP or the Principle) outlines the preferred order of Placement for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child who has been removed from their birth family. Order of Preference: The 2007 Ford Report concluded that children in care who have l 1) the child’s extended family; experienced l 2) the child’s Indigenous multiple placements demonstrate community; poor l 3) other Indigenous people. outcomes in adulthood. Many statutory Potential Conflict between dual systems? ? authorities have attempted to deal with the Child’s Welfare Best interest vs. Community’s Welfare Right to Selfissue of placement instability and Determination
Failure in the Application of the Child Placement Principle (ACPP)? Are Aboriginal children neglected abused in the name of rights to self-determination » ? Has the word « Stolen Generation » became a license for complacency on its initial purpose ? Dr Howard Bath’s report, 2007 The policy of placing aboriginal children with indigenous carers has put children at risk - The ACPP is being given premacy over basic child protection considerations Question the limit of rights to self-determination against basic human rights for Aboriginal children The Legacy of Past Mistakes
Risks on the ACPP to be altered “Failure to recognise and resolve policy and principles in relation to the potential conflict between the well-being of the child and the right to Indigenous self-determination” Janet Stanley and al. , 2002 Shortage of Indigenous Carers, their Recruitment and Retention Why is There a Shortage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Carers? (Bromfield, Higgins, & Richardson, 2007). l Lack of Assessment, Resources and Training for Workers in Child Protection Services, Out-of-home Care Service Delivery and Case Management Achieving Stable and Culturally Strong Out of Home Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, SNAICC Policy Paper, 2005 l Failure to Support and Strengthen Foster Parents, Kinship Carers and Families Child Protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children (Claire Berlyn, Leah Bromfield, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2009) SNAICC News, March 2010 l
Indigenous Responses for Children Family Welfare Policies “Numerous initiatives guided and supported by community autonomy, capacity and development… but they usually operate outside the mainstream, remain largely unrecognised and poorly documented to be noticed in the broader context” (Dr Killie Cripps) Constraints to Community Responses: l Lack of consistent funding for long-term services l Difficulty to apply for or comply to funding guidelines l Lack of resources to communicate their own knowledge, successful interventions to a broader public, even to other Indigenous communities “The best intervention are those which involve the local community, those people who know the area, its problem and which solutions are likely to work”.
Actors – Child Protection System The Child in the Middle • The Commonwealth, State, Territorial Government Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (social policy) Human Services (Child Support Agency) • ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (abolish in 2004) • SNAICC UN Agencies, Intergovernmental Organist. Government Agencies Non-Indigenous Organisations – NGOs Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care • AICCAs Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies
Child Protection/Welfare Policies / Framework Int’l Agencies Governments Departments Child Placement Principle Intervention Prevention Health Justice System Community Servic Local Church Local Communities Child Protection Policies CHILD SNAICC Aboriginal Islander Child Care Agencies Family Self. Determination Accountability Foster Care Well-Being Best Interest Substitu te
Human Rights-based Approach to Development From an « indigenous goals right system » to an « indigenous capability rights system The « indigenous capability rights system » as a set of capabilities that translate their actual freedoms in leading a life according to their own value and belief… Amartya Sen and the Capability Approach – an « information-pluralist approach, a framework to address the collective and individual right of indigenous peoples to selfdetermination Concepts of Capability, Agency, Well-being and Freedom – an alternative space of evaluation Process and Opportunity aspect of Freedom
The development of a methodological approach which normative framework encompasses the « indigenous capability rights ystem » Dr. Francesca Panzironi, 2006 The process of integrating indigenous rights to self-determination into the design, implementation and evaluation of development policies : 1] the freedom of choices and its inclusion into policy processes - From individual to collective, functional to dysfunctional choices 2] the plurality of knowledge systems : indigenous vs western, the dynamic of difference – elements of identity and self-determination 3] the adoption of the principle of « free, prior and informed consent » - Article 19, 45 of the UN Declaration
INSTITUTIONS INTERNATIONAL LOCAL NATIONAL INDIGENOUS/NON-INDIGENOUS POLICY IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN POLICY EVALUATION AGENCY ACHIEVEMENT Dysfunctional AGENCY POLICY FREEDOM OUTCOMES CHOICES WELL-BEING FREEDOM Functional ACHIEVEMEN T The Policy Process
Areas of Research
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