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.

No Pinkie. The women were treated FAR worse. The men...the convicts, were involved in the abuse of the women alongside the soldiers. The male convicts had rights...not many...but some...the women had none.

The male convicts, after some time and good behaviour were given land and freedom. The women were given syphilis and babies with no means to care for them.

Many killed themselves or died of their abuse.

And Pinkie...they weren't loccked up 23 hours a day unless on punishment....the men worked outside and yes...they were treated badly....the women worked and were routinely raped by all and sundry. NO effort was made to keep them safe from the convicts or the soldiers. The had their babies taken from them before they were shipped off and then when they arrived in Australia, they were sent to work in a factory of sorts which was filthy...the men had complete access to them at all times and they were attacked daily.

Can you IMAGINE that? The British government were told it was happening but did nothing.

Were none of the men also raped, then? That seems odd.

Probably they were OldLady but the fact is that women suffered more...there was little homosexuality in the colonies once the women arrived. homosexuality did occur of course and is well documented....it was known that men had plenty of consensual sex during the early years of settlement...they had no other comfort....they did not all indulge though...

Gay sex and men who indulged in it were not shunnd by the other prisoners, but there was an attitude of understanding as these men were comrades....but the fact is that women were paraded and sold and swapped....men were not.

I wasn't meaning homosexuals, it's not uncommon for men who identify (strongly) as heterosexual to rape other men (gay or straight, it's still a power thing) particularly where the environment is very hierarchical. Though it's not much talked about.

So, in an environment where women were being treated so badly, it's likely many of the men were too.

I'd rather have been sold into prostitution than have been sent to Port Arthur or, God help me, Norfolk Island. Only the men had to bear that.

What is the point of this argument, really? Degrees of victimhood are fruitless in any situation. But when all the people are dead, it is truly pointless.

If there were known descendants who were somehow suffering 230 years later because of those actions, it would be one thing. Sometimes apologies for past events are useful as a recognition of wrong with ongoing consequences of present suffering. But it is impossible to pinpoint any person alive today who bears the consequences of these actions. Which distinguishes it from, say, apologies for slavery or the British genocide against Aborigines.

So if you want do something for the cause of oppressed women, I think there are better ways to spend your energies.