Scrutiny on the Bounty. After investigating a single rape charge, a British prosecutor assigned to Pitcairn Island, the refuge of the Bounty mutineers, began interviewing young girls. Now 20 Pitcairn men may be charged; the island's entire population is just 44. (Most Pitcairners were removed to Norfolk Island, near Australia, in the 19th century; despite the precarious existence, some descendants returned to Pitcairn and have insisted on remaining.) The primary defense is that the island was following Polynesian customs with an age of consent as young as 12; but many Pitcairners are indistinguishable from European expats, and many spend much of their lives in New Zealand or Australia for school or work. Until recently the island's inhabitants {official site} mainly worried about underpopulation and economic isolation despite touting a communal, agrarian lifestyle. "It's like a small English town," said a teacher who spent two years there. "But you can't get away."
posted by dhartung on Jul 17, 2002 - 4 comments