No place is safe. A microcosm of corruption. And there will always be people who will justify what they do, those who support them, those turn a blind eye and those who lie as well as lie for them. There are people who will see view this story and even get off on the idea of abusing one's power over others or that it's consensual. and for those who do seem to get off on the idea, the discrepancy is the fantasy is never them being forced or being violated by someone they don't want. it's them doing the choosing while they are free from unwanted effects. hypocrisy.
It looks like good people have our work cut out for us, setting a good example for others to follow, hmm?
I don't know if I would call it corruption.. There are many words that come to mind at the mere mention of Pitcairn, many of them not very nice or pleasant. When this story first broke, I remember several people commenting about their surprise at the shock that others felt. Because really, it came down to "this is Pitcairn, what did you expect, exactly?".. This should not have been a surprise to anyone. So is it corruption? I don't know. These people are inbred (all residents on the island are related), the men on that they can take what they want, because that is how they were brought up. That is what they were led to believe. I don't think it's corruption. I think it is ownership culture. Girls learn, from a very young age, not to remain alone with any men (even their own relatives) and they learn this lesson by being victims of sexual abuse and molestation from when they were toddlers. Their mothers would have suffered the same fate. The women do not talk about it, so victims have no one to talk to. It is classified as 'normal'. I mean, look at what some of these women on the video describe the victims coming forward. They see it as a betrayal, familial betrayal, but also a betrayal about their way of life. The whole "we are Polynesian" excuse.. And notice how the Islanders seem to view the women who came forward as being outsiders, because some of them spent time off the island. As though they have betrayed their own families by speaking about what happened to them. And notice how the perpetrators seem to focus on sexual relations between teenagers, but fail to account for sexually molesting toddlers, or pinning girls down when the men were young adults, and gang raping them? Notice how the women only focus on how they were sexually active as 12 year old's and the boys they had sex with may have been a year or two older, but they refuse to speak about what these men did, that being sexually active is not the same as being pinned down by other men, while being raped or the belief among the males on the island that they had to go younger and younger in regards to their victims, because one of them got all the 11-13 year old girls first? That sexually active does not amount to molesting 3 year old girls. It reeks of ownership culture, of their rights and the women don't really get a say in any of it. They weren't hiding it. They were very open about it and very open in trying to claim that this was their way of life, what they have always known. Corruption would indicate something hidden, something secret. They never hid it. We like to consider that yes, it probably was hidden, because how could this go on for so long? But the priests who were sent to live on the island, were told that this happened and to make sure to not leave their daughters alone with any males on the island. They were blatantly open about what they did. And no one reported it, not the New Zealand priests who would go to live there for work and who were told by some victims that they were sexually active and their sexual partners were sometimes adult men. The danger of believing that this is a part of their culture and living it. In a way, it is a part of their culture, but in no way does it make it acceptable. Pitcairn is ownership culture at its worst. It is a repulsive example of it.
either way, offense is offense. that's why the girl told on them, as she was a victim. it was not consensual or mutual as they excuse themselves. it's like going to an island and they are practicing slavery and one of the slaves are telling you they are a victim. the excuse that it's their culture is not a good one. this type of thing occurs everywhere as there are people with the exact same mentality so it must not be just their culture which is a flimsy excuse anyways. that's very common for rapists and pedophiles to view their victims as ownership/property. in modern society, the perpetrator lies to themselves it's mutual to take the sting out of the fact, the other party didn't want you and that evidently you are repulsive to them if you are someone who wants to force yourself on people who are inappropriate for you and is one-way. conditioning through fear is not consensual or mutual either.
I don't actually think they are lying to themselves about it. The former mayor was quite open about what he did. So was his wife. This is as it has always been. The shocking thing about that video is just how open the perpetrators were about it, and how suspicious some of the women on the island are about the mere thought that this could be illegal and just downright wrong. They blamed outsiders for it. The victims who came forward? They are deemed outsiders because they spent some time overseas. They are no longer one of 'them'. The mayor's sister who was promoted to the position of the island police officer as this investigation started? She was also an outsider, because she spent time in the UK and was against her brother, his sons, father in law and other male relatives who did this and probably still do this. Most importantly, she said that this was wrong, so she dared to go against that male patriarchy and the other women who 'stand by their men'. Interestingly, people who go there to work, are no longer allowed to bring their children with them, since this happened. Because of the risk that the men on the island might re-offend. The UK Government and New Zealand have people there permanently now, to act as counselors and to educate them, but most importantly, to allow victims a place where they can safely report abuse or rapes. But people who go to work there (the island has less than 50 people currently and there are now few children, due to the aging population and many from the island have moved elsewhere, unwilling to return in light of the sexual molestation that was rampant.. Certainly cannot blame them as who would want to take their kids 'home' to that island?), are not allowed to bring their children to live there with them or to even visit. One of the accused, Christian's son, who was also convicted of rape, is now the Mayor. His other son, also one convicted of rape and sexual assault of minors, is second in charge. And they are surprised that locals don't want to return with their families to ensure the island does not become extinct of local population? Considering how one former Mayor was recently convicted of downloading and having over a 1,000 files of child pornography and he also felt he had done nothing wrong, I would not want to go there either. The locals are now aware that their reputation is damaging and they are trying to go into damage control, but really, I doubt their efforts will work. There is something inherently wrong on that island. You know, a lot of us who live in the Oceania region often joke about Pitcairn Island. There was always that mystery surrounding it, because of its history. A curiosity of sorts. But we also recognise that Pitcairn has a long history of darkness and ugliness that cannot be erased and the fruits from that history are now becoming more well known, as these accusations and trials just keep happening on the island. The only reason we now know about what truly goes on there, is because it is no longer as isolated as it was. Sure, it is isolated geographically, but people from the island are now experiencing life outside of that dark and revolting culture that normalised sexual abuse of children, and they also have more contact with outsiders, compared to before.
