The Federal Government's intervention task force has arrived in the troubled Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, where a group of local women have already taken up the task of making the streets safer.
Task force operations commander General Dave Chalmers and Western Australian magistrate Sue Gordon have been talking to locals in Maningrida about finding new ways to tackle old problems.
The problem of child abuse hit the remote community in a very public way last year when it was alleged that a gang of men and juveniles had repeatedly raped a 12-year-old boy over a period of months.
Three men and three juveniles have now been committed to stand trial in the NT Supreme Court.
Just over two weeks ago, a 10-year-old girl was allegedly taken from her bed and raped by an older man.
Last year, well before Prime Minister John Howard decided on his intervention strategy, Maningrida women decided to make a stand themselves.
They formed the Strong Women's Night Patrol to patrol the community at night.
At 10:00pm in Maningrida, about 50 children are playing on the school basketball court. The Strong Women's Night Patrol service has just pulled up. Among the women on patrol tonight is Laurie Magaldargi.
"They're playing until they're really, really tired and they start to go back to their homes," she said.
"Or sometimes they ask us for a lift and we take them home and drop them [off]. They say to us, 'Thank you,' and we say to them, 'Any time, sweetie, because we are looking after you."
Ms Magaldargi is one of 12 volunteers who make up the Strong Women's Night Patrol Service. They drive and walk the streets of Maningrida until about 1:00am.
The women spot two kids who used to sniff petrol and paint, and Ms Magaldargi talks to them.
"They were just standing there and then I told them, 'You shouldn't be hanging around here, there's basketball over there, you should be there with the other children to play,'" she said.
Community upset
The women set up the service after allegations of child sexual abuse rocked the community last year.
"People are hurt, and it's really bad to hear what was happening, what was going on, and everybody's upset and angry and all that," Ms Magaldargi said.
"That's not right, to do all these bad things."
Now the main aim of the night patrol service is to get children home. Only a third of the children regularly go to school, and the women are hoping their work will help improve attendance figures.
Ms Magaldargi says card games have been in full swing this week, thanks mostly to the recent baby bonus, which she says will support the gambling for several days.
"The parents ... they don't feed them well, they just don't care about their kids, that's how we saw it, the card game," she said.
"They just get the bonus money, go straight to the shop, they don't buy the good things, they just buy what they want.
"That's it and they just go back straight to the game, gambling the cards, and they spend all the money."
Police grateful
The grassroots work of the women is welcomed by the Northern Territory police. Commander Greg Dowd says any help on law and order is appreciated.
"It controls a lot of the kids who are inclined to be roaming the streets at night, and in Maningrida in particular they were having some issues with substance abuse, solvent abuse and paint and what have you, and the night patrol has helped control some of those aspects," he said.
"It just creates a presence on the street and once the community comes to appreciate that those people there are actually assisting the community keeping people under control, they are more inclined to behave themselves."
With the other strong women of Maningrida, Ms Magaldargi will continue patrolling the streets. She says women on patrol have now earned the support of the whole community.
"Because sometimes these kids when they go back home to their parents and they get angry with the kids, they're going to make trouble for their parents and they say to us, 'Well, that's good, as long as we need night patrolling to work to help our children,'" she said.
Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tues, 24 July 2007
Source: Australian Broadcasting Commission (Australia-Web)
Reporter: Lindy Kerin
Website: http://www.abc.net.au
