The perils of indifference....

“The Perils of Indifference.”

Elie Wiesel
Seventh White House Millennium Evening, Washington, 12 April 1999.


“Of course, indifference can be tempting – more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person’s pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbours are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to abstraction.

…. In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always a friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor – never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees – not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment….

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders…

And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire…

If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction…

And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew…

Does it mean that we have learnt from the past? Does it mean that society has changed? Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Have we really learnt from our experiences? Are we less insensitive to the plight of victims of ethnic cleansing and other forms of injustices in places near and far?”



As quoted in Alan J Whiticker’s “Speeches That Shaped the Modern World” , New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 2007


Elie Wiesel’s sentiments apply to all forms of social injustice and human rights abuses.

One of the incredibly challenging and traumatic aspects of children and women’s experience of domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse is the indifference displayed by those we have begged to assist and protect our children and ourselves. The total lack of response. For us it would seem that indifference is indeed a punishment – a punishment for speaking our truth, a punishment for breaking the silence around abuse, a punishment for inviting and challenging people to have their actions meet their words, for calling them on their hypocrisy … their sin becomes our punishment.

Following is an incomplete list of those who I have shared extensive information with in regards to the experience of Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial abuse and begged for assistance. Those listed have shown their indifference to the trauma and suffering of these innocent and vulnerable citizens by not responding, not speaking out, by ignoring us – by their indifference.


In Australia …

UNIFEM
Women’s Electoral Lobby
GetUp
Amnesty International
Children’s Rights International
White Ribbon Campaign
State Women’s Legal Services
Anglican Church of Australia
YWCA
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Council for Civil Liberties
Australian Institute of Judicial Administration
Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse
Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre
Key Centre for Ethics, Justice, Law and Government
Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law
National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse
VOCAL Victim’s of Crime Assistance League
Australian Centre for Child Protection
St James Ethics Centre
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
Domestic Violence Committee Coalition

Researchers/academics at Sydney University, University of New South Wales, Charles Sturt University, Griffith University, University of Canberra, Bond University, University of Newcastle Legal Centre, Monash University, Melbourne University, University of South Australia, University of Western Sydney.

Australians who also attended the World Conference on the Prevention of Family Violence 2005 (Banff, Alberta), International Conference on Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence (Vancouver, British Columbia 1999 and London, Ontario 1997).

Australian Embassy, Ottawa, Canada
Prime Minister
Attorney General
Shadow Attorney General
State and territory Attorneys General
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Office for Women
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Premier of New South Wales
Former Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissioner
Home town MP and Senator
MP’s and Senators who claim to care about children and women’s safety and human rights, politicians who held the government responsible for ensuring David Hicks received “judicial fairness’ and returned to Australia, those who believed the government had a responsibility to intervene for the “Bali Nine”, Schapelle Corby, Than Nguyen and others charged with drug trafficking and those who believed the government had a responsibility to bring Robert Jovicic promptly and safely back to Australia.
Leaders of the Liberal Party, Labor, Democrats and Green Party

Media


… and in Canada

Provincial and National Action Committee on the Status of Women
PATHS Provincial Association of Transition Houses
NAWL National Association of Women and the Law
LEAF Legal Education and Action Fund for Women
Family Service Canada
White Ribbon Campaign
RESOLVE Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse
The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children
Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System
Sheldon Chumir Centre for Ethics in Leadership
RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police


Attendees, guest speakers and committee members/organisers of the World Conference on the Prevention of Family Violence 2005 (Banff, Alberta), International Conference on Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence (Vancouver British Columbia 1999 and London, Ontario 1997).

Provincial Justice Department
Federal Justice Minister
Provincial and Federal Office on the Status of Women
Federal Critic on the Status of Women
Provincial Children’s Advocate
Provincial Ombudsman
Provincial Human Rights Office
MLAs, MPs, Senators from all the main provincial and national political parties,

Numerous lawyers, social workers, counsellors….

Researchers/academics specialising in law or gender studies at numerous Canadian universities.

Media

“If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction…”


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What will you do after you have read this, now that you know?


Take care … take heart … don’t be indifferent to injustice and suffering – your actions will show whether or not you care … Merinda.