Should the British and Australian Government issue an apology to women?

[GumballCharm]

For the white slavery that went on during the settlement of Australia? I belive they apologised to the indigenous population and are still trying to right the horroble wrongs done to Aboriginal people.

Well I have been reading about what women convicts went through on their arrival to Australia and it's sickening.

The abuse of women went on for a long time in Australia...driven by the British government who allowed the females to be bought and sold as soon as they arrived....for prostitution. They were horribly abused and it seems wrong this hasn't been acknowledged.

[GumballCharm]

These women were part of the building of a nation. Their descendants populate the country now as do the descendants of the many orphans sent over there after Irish Famine....basiccally for breeding purposes.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

What good would an apology do? The relevant women are all dead.

[BranchingOut]

I admit that I don't know much about this, but I think that an apology would not do any harm and might do some good.

Hurt can continue for a long time.

[sunshineandbooks]

The idea behind this is similar to the apology issued by Bristol for its part in the British Slave Trade. It's not about making an apology to the victims (who are all long gone) but about acknowledging that what went on in the past was wrong because the victims are equal to their 'masters' and should have had the same human rights.

By openly stating this it helps to build bridges between descendants on both sides and reduce the likelihood of future people from that group (whether they be women or black people) being future victims of other forms of discrimination.

That's my take on it, anyway (which I originally posted on completely the wrong thread ).

[GumballCharm]

OldLady so what? They should admit that these things happened. By acknowledging them, they woul be assisting women towards an equal society.

They may all be dead but does that mean that their pain is forgotten? Does it mean that the events never made an ripples in the fabric of society? Obviously not because some people think it's worth writing about and others have made it their business to preserve the evidence of the awful things they went through.

[GumballCharm]

That's right Sunshine....it's showing them respect.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

But it is admitted that these things happened, how else would we know about them?

[Pinkiemum]

You would have to apologise to all the people sent to Australia not only women, if you think male convicts were treated nicely then think again.

[GumballCharm]

It is admittd by academics Oldlady who have made it their business to learn about these things. Not by the authorities.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Well, I knew about it years ago, and I'm no academic.

[havinhoops1974]

That Austalia film was made as an apology to the mixed race children who were abused in the 1940's
nice sentiment but not sure what good it would do.

[WishIwereAtTheWiesnProst]

I had no idea of that! how horrible :(

I think maybe making it more widely known would be nice, maybe a monument or something so it could be discussed in the media but I always find apologies made by people who didn't perpetrate the crime to people who are no longer here quite false

[Trills]

I don't understand the point of this.

A government could issue an apology
on behalf of some dead people, who may or may not actually want to apologise (if they were alive to make the choice)
to some other dead people, who will get no benefit from it

Why?

Very well for the government to say "this is a bad thing and we regret that it happened", but IMO an apology can only be given by the people who actually did the thing.

[EggyAllenPoe]

i also think all of this 'apologising' for historical events is rather..false if well intentioned.

the apology for the slave trade being a prime example - the same body could equally take credit for the British Navy hunting down slave ships after abolition.

an apology would be due to all women really, as women had little legal status prior to the Married Womans Property act

[TheCrackFox]

I don't really get the point of issuing an apology.

[GumballCharm]

Pinkie it's a fact that the females were treated FAR worse than the males and that's saying something. While the men had few rights the women had none. Paraded naked with numbers on their backs....to be used by convicts and soldiers alike.

Anyway....why do I feel like I''m in AIBU rather than Feminism?

I think if governments are going to say sorry for the way they treated indigenous people back then they need to say sorry to women too.

[EggyAllenPoe]

do you think apology is necessary in terms of recognition?

[EggyAllenPoe]

the memorial for the 'Sino Chinese' war was in memory of the men who died.

removing such a memorial would constitute more of a re-writing. it happened - how we interpret an object of that time is down to us.

also: you are much more likely to get an accurate picture of the events and motivations of that war in this country than in China!

A country that constantly and actively seeks to erase the physical remnants of its history is one to be suspected: it only wants to display that which it approves of.

Always be aware of the political motivations of your own time in how it views history. the political motivation for such an apology to Aussie women...would be to ingratiate the UK government to women?

[nailak]

is there a link so we can read about these women? i didnt know about this

[Pinkiemum]

So the women should be apologised to and not the men, being locked in a cell 23 hours a day and only being able to see a human face once a week, when you are forced to go to church in your own little cell so all you can see is the priest is not worth apologising for ( only one example). Yes women were treated badly, but so were male convicts, I am all for womens rights but if you are going to apologise for transporting people to Australia and mistreating them you need to apologise to all.