unclebuck

What’s going on there then?

Seven men - half the adult male population, are facing more than 50 sex abuse charges.
However, the female residents claim it is customary for girls on the island to have sex as young as 12.
Is this yet more politically correct medalling by do-gooders in the social structures of societies who’s practices and traditions they happen to disagree with? Or are the Pitcairn Islanders really a just a bunch of pervs?
I’ll hazard a guess that it’s more likely to be a case of the former.

philc

it's big news (yawn) here in NZ - and whether it's a clash of cultures is a matter of opinion.

AFAIK all the Pitcairn Islanders are descendants of the mutineers from the Bounty, so I would think large / close family relationships are not new but accepted practise - having been isolated for over 200 years.

backgrounder here;

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3049347a10,00.html

or here;

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_st...%3fformat=html

Pbr

Always fascinated me this, as I would be interested to know what the population of the island is now as against what it was after the mutineers had landed. That would show exactly how much in-breeding has gone on over the last 200-odd years, and whether this has played any part in their alleged unusual sexual customs.

LOL @ UB, looking for the evil hand of political correctness in the most remote corners of the planet.

unclebuck

AFAIK it was uninhabited until the mutineers and their native spouses landed there.

It does seem to me that this is a nice plump soft target for the PC brigade, remote though it is. The incidious tentacles of Big Brother know no bounds it would seem.

UB

Steve vRS

Aren't they all some kind of inbred by now? If the gene puddle is that small there, aren't they all related? At least they can count to 24 on their fingers and toes

Steve

douglasb

I posted a couple of links just as SN went breasts vertical.

Current population is 47 according to today's Telegraph.

And was even lower when the Bounty arrived. It reached the heady heights of 233 in 1937. I assume that they are not sheep farmers.....

Iwan

[chavscum]Bob's your uncle, and your dad[/chavscum]

Bit wierd that situation, wonder if they have webbed feet or play banjos?

Just because it's isolated and the practices are established doesn't necessarily make them right. I don't think any 'normal' person could honestly say sh@gging a 12yo is a good/right thing to do.

Wasn't cannibalism going on until recently in New Guinea?

Tiggs

ppl need to stop and think about this. is the issue with sex below "our" legal limit a social one or a biological one? presumably girls are "able" to have sex for the normal purpose (getting preggers) before 16 (as many do!) so why is the limit 16? the answer is clearly that we set it there because we belive it socialy correct.....i certainly do.

but who are we to tell ppl somewhere else its wrong? and whats are reasoning for telling them that?

if there is true abuse going on then thats fair enough but if this is just ppl crossing our own limits of right and wrong is it a problem?

there are plenty of places with stickter rules than the UK on things like ladies dress codes.....would we appreciate their opinions if they enforced them on us?

SJ_Skyline

Tricky one.....

I guess what we don't know already is what has actually happened and what is alledged to have happened. As they say - its part of their culture as it is in many places in the world. The thing not to forget though is that Pitcairn is a British protectorate and as such (please correct me if I am wrong) is goverened by British law which says under 16 is a no-no.

So, is it right to wade in and say "stop that you heathen savage, we find it repugnant that you are having sex with 12 year olds" or do we say "We respect your culture, carry on old boy" I hazzard a guess that the first will be the outcome of this court case and if they moved to mainland Britain then the 2nd would be the outcome (and they would all get council houses and benefit handouts!)

edit:
As Tiggs says - you can't go around judging other cultures by our own values. Does Colonialism ring a bell?

Oh - and:

FPMSL

David Lock

Is there fox hunting on Pitcairn??

Tiggs

they may hunt them but these girls have been inbreed for 200 years...there aint no foxes there

Leslie

I have spoken to a couple of radio amateurs there in the past and they seemd normal enough. Hard to tell behind a mic I suppose.

I think what Tiggs says is common sense really, why should we interfere with their way of life unless something really bad is going on. is it actually any of our business?

Les

Brendan Hughes

<Wipes off keyboard...>

Iwan

I'd agree with Tiggs idea of letting them be if it was an idigenous people or race. But aren't they all descendants of Brits? And the place is a British protectorate after all.

It's not like it's a lost tribe, deep in some rainforest where they've remained isolated for thousands of years.

SJ_Skyline

Around 1/2 of the original settlers were British sailors led by Fletcher Christian. the rest were natives from Tahiti.

http://www.onlinepitcairn.com/history.htm

gregjd

Maybe they should send Edward Woodward to investigate.. sorry bit early for an obscure film reference.. Did remind me of The Wicker Man when I first heard it on the radio the other day though!

tmo

They killed Fletcher Christian after 3 years, apparently the Malaysian element were treated like slaves so......