Australia's Literal War on Child Molestation

How far would you go to stop child molestation and domestic violence? Would you participate in a report-your-neighbor program? Pay more taxes for more police on the ground? Or would you be willing to see these evils ended even if it called for truly draconian measures?

Australia's prime minister John Howard apparently will go as far as it takes. Starting this week, a large contingent of police and military are being deployed to certain communities to do all they can to stop the reportedly rampant familial abuse in these places. Plans in place include:

* Outlawing pornography in these communities

* Banning alcohol, viewed to be a serious contributing factor to the abuse

* Mandating medical examinations for all children under 16, which should catch most serious abuse cases

* Establishing physical security with a visible police presence so women and children frightened of reporting abuse will come forward.

The hitch? Other than the fact that these measures may or may not be constitutional in Australia, that is.

The communities in question are all Aboriginal areas, peopled primarily by indigenous citizens who have historically come out on the thin end of Australia's social safety net. And there is real fear among the Aborigines that the government is - again - coming to take their children away to place them in integration programs, as was once normal in Australia.

How Did This Happen?

Last Thursday, a government report searingly criticized these areas for rampant juvenile prostitution and pedophilia. Crimes against children happened within families torn apart by decades of alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and profound poverty.

But the crimes were happening outside the families as well. Drawn by a large population of children neglected, ignored, and abused by distracted parents, pedophiles have been moving into or nearby the communities for years. No one knows how many pedophiles are there; unlike the United States, Australia doesn't track these bad guys closely.

Reports indicate that they are not a rarity.

And no one has any idea of how widespread the abuse and violence of these children might be.

Criticism Of This Move

The thing about draconian measures is, if the problem were addressed earlier the severe tactics would not be necessary. Aboriginal villages and communities have been left to languish by the Australian government, often for as long as they've been there. These places exist in the driest and least hospitable areas of Australia, with no hope and no jobs. Children grow up in broken families or families that are marred by heavy alcohol use. And there has been little government intervention until now.

Many opponents of Howard are pointing out that his measures are coming not long before national elections, where marked tough-on-crime save-the-children measures might help his sagging polls.

And many others question why this move is being made into Aboriginal communities alone.

Whatever the truth behind the moves, it is certain that similar measures would be fought in the United States by the communities in question. Using heavy-handed government measures to fight an undeniable evil - it's like asking whether you want to be shot or hung at your trial. Either way, the community will suffer. And either way, Australia probably won't come out ahead.