Aboriginal children’s sexual health a national tragedy

Underage Aboriginal children are 60 times more likely to contract syphilis than their non-Aboriginal counterparts.

There is a story on the front of today’s paper that concerns the sexual health of young girls.

It says underage Aboriginal girls are now almost 60 times more likely to contract syphilis than their non-Aboriginal counterparts, and 30 times more likely to contract gonorrhoea.

I don’t know about you but the word in that sentence that jumps out for me isn’t Aboriginal.

It’s “underage.”

You’re 11, 12, 13 years old, maybe younger; and you have syphilis. How?

Well, of course we know how.

That statistic, highlighted today by our Northern Territory correspondent, as part of a “Bridging The Gap” report, tells you everything you need to know about how these young girls are living.

Of course, the word Aboriginal is also important. These children aren’t white. They’re indigenous. Look at the graph that accompanies Amos Aikman’s report (and is reproduced here.

Graphic of STIs in children under 16.

The red line — the one that tracks straight up, like a mountain — is for little black girls with sexually transmitted diseases.

The yellow line that runs along the bottom is for white girls.

And what happens when health professionals find a young child carrying a debilitating sexually transmitted disease?

The commission’s final report says: “It is very, very infrequent that we remove children from their families. Very, very infrequent … I think we’ve done it on two occasions.”

So, not quite nothing, but pretty much nothing.

The news comes after a sixth child died last week from congenital syphilis. Oh, you hadn’t heard? Yes, there’s an epidemic in Queensland, and in some cases, infants born to mothers with syphilis are dying.

Labor senator Patrick Dodson has been quoted as saying the national response was inadequate.

“Something’s not working here,” Senator Dodson said. “If this was happening in Victoria …”

But of course, it’s not happening in Victoria, it’s happening in the Northern Territory, in Queensland, in remote parts of South Australia.

What’s more, if you have an STI and you’re over 14, it’s not even a child protection matter.

It’s a health problem, apparently. A national tragedy is what it is.