Culture of violence see Aboriginal girls raped

SYDNEY, May 16 (Reuters) A culture of violence fuelled by alcohol and drugs has led to endemic sexual abuse against aboriginal women in remote parts of Australia, where girls as young as seven months are raped, an outback prosecutor has said.

The prosecutor for central Australia said the sexual violence in black communities around the outback town of Alice Springs, where she has worked for 15 years, has been allowed to occur because of fear and the cultural belief it is ''men's business''.

''Violence is entrenched in a lot of aspects of aboriginal society,'' prosecutor Nanette Rogers told Australian television after her briefing paper detailing the abuse was made public.

''Aboriginal society is very punitive so that if a report is made or a statement is made implicating an offender then that potential witness is subject to harassment, intimidation and sometimes physical assault,'' Rogers said.

Rogers said the male-dominated culture of remote aboriginal communities saw men routinely abusing women.

''Men's business is a pre-dominant aspect of life in remote communities and young men ... feel they are not responsible for their actions,'' she told Australian Broadcasting Corp's news programme ''Lateline'' on Monday night.

''In other words they can do whatever they like.'' Rogers' briefing paper details several disturbing cases. In two incidents, a seven-month-old baby girl and a two-year-old girl were taken into bushes by aboriginal men and raped.

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