New Zealand National Party: Smith lays complaint over CYF care of teen stripper
Kids and laws
Nelson MP Nick Smith has laid a formal complaint with
the Children's Commissioner over a 15-year-old girl in the care of Child
Youth and Family who was found working as a stripper during the weekend.
“It is a disgrace and yet another example of CYF
failing to properly provide for young people in its care. If this young person was living with their family,
their care would be subject to an investigation by the Department and
potentially the teenager would be removed,” Dr Smith says. “When the Department is the carer, the Children's
Commissioner is the only place to go.”
Dr Smith was informed by the girl's family who are at
their wits end trying to get help for her. While it would be illegal for
the girl to work as a prostitute, there is nothing to stop her working
as a stripper. “The law is simply wrong in allowing a girl as young
as 15 to be working as a stripper. It should be changed so no one under
the age of 18 can work in these establishments. This case is proof that under the new liberal
prostitution laws, it is inevitable that more young women will be
dragged into the sex industry, just as drinking among teenagers
increased with the lower alcohol age. ”
“The girl's family say she is totally out of control.
The Department has failed in its duty to ensure she goes to school and
there are fears she'll get further into trouble. Every child in the Department's care should be in
school and if their behaviour is too bad for a mainstream school, they
should be placed in specialist residential schools. ”
“Sadly the Labour Government continues to ignore this
approach in the mistaken view that somehow the community can cope with
these youths. The policy needs to be changed before there is another
tragedy.”
Dr Smith says he wants all these issues investigated
by the Children's Commissioner, not just for the sake of the girl and
the family concerned, but also for the sake of others facing similar
circumstances.
“I hope a thorough investigation will fuel support for
a law change that would better protect young women from the exploitative
sex industry, ” says Dr Smith.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0312/S00189.htm
... ALSO ...
Girl in CYF care working as stripper
A 15-year-old girl in the care of Child, Youth and
Family has been found working as a stripper in a Nelson nightclub.
The girl's father, who was not identified, said last
night that police were powerless to stop his daughter working in a strip
joint.
“It disgusts me, and police are also disgusted, but
their lawyers tell them there's no legal age minimum for strippers,” he
told the Holmes. “It's a hole in the law that these club owners are
exploiting.”
Nelson MP, National's Nick Smith, said it was
“disgraceful” that the law allowed 15-year-olds to work as strippers. By closing residential facilities, the Government was
failing young people, he said.
The girl's father said he had had “suspicions” for
about six weeks but his fears were confirmed when his youngest daughter
saw her sister on the catwalk. “I'm probably the same as most fathers — I don't want
to walk into a bar and see my daughter with no clothes on.”
Police picked the girl up from the strip joint on
Sunday night. The father said he blamed the club owner but was also
angry at CYF. “They have custody of my daughter, it's a care and
protection order, and they're not caring for and protecting her,” he
said. “She skipped their house 10 days ago and basically
they've made very little attempt to find her.”
He said he had told CYF where his daughter was and had
taken her home twice. “But as soon as we're asleep she's gone, back to the
same environment. This afternoon ... I took her back to CYF so they
could place her in a secure home. Just 10 minutes later they ring me
back to say she's no longer there.”
CYF's general manager, Vernon
Smith, said the situation was complex but CYF would continue to work
closely with the police and the girl's family to resolve the issues .
“CYF cannot as a matter of course lock young people
away but it accepts responsibility to gain the trust of young people, to
make a connection with them — and to put adults around them who can
supervise and care for them.”
Inspector Brian McGurk, Nelson Bays area controller,
told Holmes that police were doing everything the law allowed them to
do. “We've picked up this young girl lots of times, this
latest example is just a classic example of us working closely with our
partner agencies looking after this girl's interests,” he said.
The girl was in the temporary care of CYF and was not
subject to residential conditions. Putting her in residential care would not achieve
“long-term solutions”.
Hon Nick Smith Nelson MP
10 December 2003
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3538372&thesection=news&thesubsection=general
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