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Pacific rape victims can claim cash from Britain
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor9 Oct 2008
Women who suffered child sex abuse on the Pacific island of Pitcairn can apply for compensation from the British Government, the Foreign Office announced today.
The victims, who as girls were raped over several years by local men, will be eligible for payouts from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
The abuse was revealed in 1999 and eight men were later convicted during a trial on the former colony, which is now classed as a "British overseas territory".
British governors only visited intermittently but residents have long claimed that colonial masters knew of the problem and refused to act.
Pitcairn, about 3,300 miles from New Zealand, has a population of about 50, most of whom are descendants of the mutineers from the Royal Navy ship the Bounty.
It was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty mutineers.
The jailed men included former island mayor Steve Christian, now 57, a descendant of Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian. He was sentenced to three years after being found guilty of five rapes against two girls. But the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme does not apply to the overseas territories and the Government refused to compensate the Pitcairn women. They engaged a New Zealand QC and threatened to launch a class action.
Today, Foreign Office minister Gillian Merron said: "What happened to these women was terrible and no amount of money will take that pain away. But I hope this will give them some recognition of their suffering."
Reader views (1)
The taxpayers of the UK are paying compensation to the inhabitants of the Pacific island of Pitcairn? Ridiculous!!
- Steve Christian, Luton, UK, 09/10/2008 23:19
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