Australia's Child Wise regrets Bali child abuse document<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The head of Australia's leading child protection advocacy group
\nsaid she wished she had never made public a report on pedophiles
\nin Bali.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview with Australia's The Age newspaper,
\nChild Wise director Bernadette McMenamin said her group's report
\non pedophiles was a \"working document\" prepared by a postgraduate
\nstudent and not \"an investigation\".<\/p>\n
\"It's a whole collection of comments, we don't pretend it's
\nany more than that,\" she told The Age.<\/p>\n
The document said that pedophile rings of Australians,
\nAmericans and Europeans were operating largely undetected on
\nBali.<\/p>\n
The media, quoting Child Wise, reported that children on
\nBali's streets had revealed networks of thousands of foreign men
\npreying on them, working together and sharing the children<\/p>\n
Child Wise named half a dozen Bali bars where children are
\nallegedly available for sex, but the author did not mention
\nwhether she personally visited these bars.<\/p>\n
The document was released to some members of the media in
\nNovember and received no coverage at the time, apparently because
\nthe allegations it contains are all unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n
\"There was no interest in it for obvious reasons,\" she said.<\/p>\n
But the arrest of former Australian diplomat and suspected
\npedophile William Stuart Brown prompted a flurry of stories
\nquoting the document alleging a big rise in pedophile activities
\nin Bali, especially involving Australians, she said.<\/p>\n
She said she had no doubt that pedophiles operated in Bali,
\nbut people should realize the problem was worse in many other
\nplaces in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"It's probably less of a problem there than in the rest of
\nIndonesia,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Child Wise had just compiled the document with the intention
\nof convincing authorities to probe the allegations.<\/p>\n
\"We were not there to investigate ... I can't say we have
\ninvestigated the claims that were given to us,\" McMenamin said.<\/p>\n
Child Wise jointly organized a meeting on the island last
\nmonth with the Indonesia's Office of the State Minister for
\nCulture and Tourism as part of its effort to fight sexual
\nexploitation of children, particularly in the tourist industry.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which was attended by high-level tourism
\nofficials and NGOs from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar,
\nCambodia, Laos and the Philippines, adopted a draft of the ASEAN
\nTraveler's Code (ATC).<\/p>\n
The ATC urges travelers to \"help prevent the abuse and
\nexploitation of people\". It also states that \"everyone has the
\nright to protection from exploitation and abuse\".<\/p>\n
Elizabeth O' Neill, the new press attache at the Australian
\nEmbassy in Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post Australia had
\nintroduced laws to combat child sex tourism.<\/p>\n
Australian citizens and residents who engage in sexual
\nactivity with children in foreign countries can be prosecuted in
\nAustralia under Australia's Crimes (Child Sex Tourism) Amendment
\nAct 1994, which provides for a prison term of up to 17 years and
\nfines of up to A$500,000.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australias-child-wise-regrets-bali-child-abuse-document-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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