Growing Up Sexually

PACIFICS, Non-Australian Oceania

Featured:

Aitutaki, Big Nambas, Carolines Isl., Fiji, Gilbert Isl., Hawai’i (US), Ifaluk, Kurtatchi, Maori, Marshall Isl., Mangaia, Marquesans, Mewun, Palauans, Ponape, Pukapukans, Ra’Ivavae, Rotuman, Samoa, Santa Cruz Isl., Shortland Isl., Siuai, Solomon Isl., Tahiti, Tanna, Tikopia, Tonga Isl., Trukese, Ulithi, Vanuatu, Yapese

Introduction, Generalia

Early Betrothal / Marriage

Current Age of Consent

Age-Stratified “Homosexuality”

Initiation and Sexuality

Ethnographic Particularities

Additional References: Pacifics

“Tsk, tsk, what a shame!”[1]

Introduction, Generalia

Oceanic sexual mores have been overly discussed in the context of European explorers being serviced by women. The case of childhood is less obvious. Schidlof (1908:p12)[2] offers the following second-hand account: “Geschlechtverkehr von Kinderen untereinander wird […] von vielen Reisenden bestätigt. Ribble [?] berichted ein Gleiches aus Rubiana [Roviana, Solomon Islands] und sagt: Beide Geschlechter werden sehr früh reif und es sind vor allem Knaben, die sehr frühzeitig beginnen, mit dem anderen Geschlecht intim zu verkehren”.

A bibliography on contemporary adolescent sexuality was provided by Chung[3]. An overview of Pacific adolescence, with an emphasis on sexual behaviour and identity was provided by Herdt and Leavitt[4]. This is expanded by personal accounts from the South Pacific collected by Stewart[5].

Early Betrothal / Marriage

Early betrothal seemed to have been a rather common institution on Tahiti, “and many other islands of the SouthSea, as also among several of the tribes inhabiting the Malay Archipelago”[6]. This was so case of the KingmillIslands[7], Fiji[8], Hudson’s Island[9], Nukahiva[10], Solomon Islands[11], New Caledonia[12], and New Britain[13]. Among the Trukese, “[p]arents may also betroth their children while they are still infants” (Bollig, 1927:p100)[14], who are then allowed the same “intercourse” as is allowed the married. Among the Lau Fijians, “[c]hild betrothal is not so common in Lau today as it was formerly, for there is a growing tendency for young people to choose their mates themselves. Child betrothal is arranged by the boy’s father any time before the child reaches the age of seven or eight, when he is informed of the arrangement” (Thompson, 1940a)[15]. Infant betrothal among the Trobrianders has been discussed extensively by Malinowski (1929)[16]. Among the Melanesians, child betrothal occurs in Florida, and on the Northern New Hebrides, but only of “great people”. On Leper’s Island, a betrothed girl is taken into the house of the boy’s mother to be taught the household ways[17].

Current Age of Consent

For details, one is to consult ECPAT[18]. As a pattern, a female AoC is not paralleled with a male equivalent. Currently (Nov., 2002) the following entries have been made by ECPAT (f/m): Fiji (16/-)[19], Kiribati (15/-)[20], Marshall Islands (?)[21], Micronesia (15/-)[22], New Zealand (16), Samoa (16/-, het.)[23], Solomon Islands (15/-, het.)[24], Tonga (16+extramar./12, het.)[25], Tuvalu (15/-, het.)[26] and Vanuatu (15/-, het.; 18, hom.)[27].

On Fiji, “[a]ny person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of thirteen years is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.(2) Any person who attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl under the age of thirteen years is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for five years, with or without corporal punishment; (3) It is no defence to a charge for unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen years to prove that she consented to the act” (Section 155, Amended by 11 of 1948, s. 2, and by 21 of 1950, s. 3). According to Section 154, ‘Indecent assaults on females’, “it is no defence to a charge for an indecent assault on a girl under the age of sixteen years to prove that she consented to the act of indecency”.

Age-Stratified “Homosexuality”

Pacific “homosexuality” may have been “clearly age-identified” (Murray[28]; cf. Murray, 1992:xvii-xxi)[29]. Individual cases are dealt with under their geo/ethnographic heading. The selected cases are dealt with in the following societies: ®Hawai’i, ®Carolines Isl., ®“EastBay”, ®Mewun (Malukula; cf. ®Vanuatu), ®Tahiti, and Small-Islanders.

Initiation and Sexuality

Regionally specific overviews of circumcision and initiation rites are provided by Schidlof (p17 et seq.), Jensen[30] and Zeller[31]. Though not as detailed as African cases, customs of “erotic indoctrination” are encountered in Polynesia, that is, “courses in sexual refinements” given by priestesses and Kariois (Danielsson, [1965:p89]). In the Tikopian context, Firth notes that “[i]n Polynesia there is hardly any of this teaching [on sex matters], and in Melanesia it is perfunctory”.

For some descriptive notes on circumcision practices, consider chapters 9 and 12 of Circumcision: an Ethnomedical Study, by A. Thomas (3rd edition, 1995).

Ethnographic Particularities

A recent overview of adolescent sexuality studies was provided by Chung[32].

Featured:

Aitutaki, Big Nambas, Carolines Isl., Cook Islands, Fiji, Gilbert Isl., Hawai’i (US), Ifaluk, Kurtatchi, Maori, Marshall Isl., Mangaia, Marquesans, Mewun, Palauans, Ponape, Pukapukans, Ra’Ivavae, Rotuman, Samoa, Santa Cruz Isl., Shortland Isl., Siuai, Solomon Isl., Tahiti, Tanna, Tikopia, Tonga Isl., Trukese, Ulithi, Vanuatu, Yapese

Additional References: Pacifics

· Beben, W. (1990) An anthropological view of sexuality, in Ingebritson, J. F. (Ed.) Human Sexuality in Melanesian Cultures. Goroka: POINT

· Buck, P. (1938) Ethnology of Mangavera. Honolulu: BishopMuseum, p127-8

· Elliston, D. (1995) Erotic anthropology: “Ritualized homosexuality” in Melanesia and beyond, Am Ethnol 22:848-67

· Henry, T. (1928) Ancient Tahiti. Honolulu: BishopMuseum, p274

· Okamura, A., Heras, P. & Wong-Kerberg, L. (1995) Asian, PacificIsland, and Filipino Americans and sexual child abuse, in Fontes, L. A. (Ed.) Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures: Treatment and Prevention. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc., p67-96

· Oliver, D. L. (1974) Ancient Tahitian Society. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. See also p257, 431, 783

· Suggs, R. C. (1960) The Island Civilizations of Polynesia. New York: The New American Library of World Literature

· Task Force to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism, Asia and the Pacific, in English (full document pdf - 7.314 KB) Bali, Indonesia, 26-27 June 2003. Final Reports for the Regional Consultations for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism [http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/reunions/final-report-asia.pdf]

Janssen, D. F., Growing Up Sexually. VolumeI. World Reference Atlas. 0.2 ed. 2004. Berlin: Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology, Berlin

Last revised: Sept 2004

[1]Suggs (1962 [1963:p121]), cit. infra

[2] Schidlof, B. (1908) Das Sexualleben der Australier und Ozeanier. Leipzig: Leipziger Verlag

[3] Bibliography by M. Chung (nd) on Adolescent Sexuality in PacificIsland Countries.

[4] Herdt, G. & Leavitt, S. (Eds., 1989) Adolescence in PacificIsland Societies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press

[5] Stewart, R. (Ed., 1982) Pacific Profiles: Personal Experiences of 100 South Pacific Islanders. Extension Services, The University of the South Pacific, Suva

[6] Westermarck, E. ([1901]) The History of Human Marriage. London: MacMillan. 3rd ed., p214. See n8

[7] Wilkes (V, p102)

[8] Ibid., III, p92

[9] Turner, Samoa, p290

[10] Waitz-Gerland (VI, p127)

[11] Zimmerman (II, p90)

[12] Turner, p240

[13]Powell, p85

[14] Bollig, L. (1927) Die Bewohner der Truk-Inseln. Münster i.W.: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung. “When one looks at the married couples concretely it is difficult to say what points of view are decisive for a girl in the choice of her future husband. Old chaps, young girls -- young lads, decrepit women -- pretty girls, men covered with sores and ringworm, etc., in all varieties”. “A variant of the arranged marriage may take the form of a formal betrothal of children not yet of marriageable age. Although there is some disagreement in regard to how young children may be when they are betrothed, there is little question that the majority of such relationships are, and were in the past, established very shortly before the children reach puberty” (Gladwin, 1953:p125-6). “Infant betrothal also occurs” (Goodenough, 1951).

[15] Thompson, L. (1940b) Southern Lau, Fiji: An Ethnography. Honolulu, Hawaii: BerniceP. BishopMuseum: “Child betrothal (watchi ni suthu ) is common in Lau. The boy’s father arranges his betrothal to his female cross cousin, the preferred mate, some time before he reaches the age of seven or eight. […] When the children reach the age of seven or eight they are informed of the arrangement” (p90f).

[16] See also Malinowski (1927:p230); Malinowski, B. (1926) Crime and Custom in Savage Society. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, p100; Robinson, M. S. (1972) Complementary Filiation and Marriage in the Trobriand Islands. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press

[17] Parsons, E. C. (1906) The Family. New York & London: Putman, p70-1

[18] ECPAT International, Online Database [http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp]

[19] “The age of majority is 21 years of age and the age of sexual consent for females is 16. There is no age prescribed for males. The age of criminal liability is 10 years of age. The Penal Code of Fiji has general provisions prohibiting sexual contact with children. It is illegal to indecently assault girls under 16. It is no defence to this crime to show that the girl consented to sexual contact”.

[20] “The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls, but there is no prescribed age of sexual consent for boys. A child under 10 years old cannot be held criminally liable for their actions. A child between the ages of 10 and 14 years can only be held criminally liable if it is proved that they had the capacity to understand that they ought not commit a criminal act. A boy under 12 years old is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse”.

[21] “Children between the age of 10 and 14 are […] presumed to be incapable of committing a criminal offence except in circumstances where they are charged with murder or rape, in which case the presumption is rebuttable. The Marshall Islands criminal code does not deal with Child Prostitution or sexual contact with children”.

[22] “The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls. There is no prescribed age of sexual consent for boys”.

[23] “The age of sexual consent for girls is 16 years. There is no heterosexual age of consent for boys. All sexual contact between males is prohibited whether it is consensual or not. […] It is a crime to have any sexual contact with a girl under the age of 12. It is no defence for the accused to prove he had a mistaken belief that the girl was over 12 years old. It is also an offence to have sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 but over the age of 12 whom is not married to the accused. There are two defences to this crime. If the accused perpetrator is younger than the girl victim then it is a defence to prove that the girl consented. Also, if the accused perpetrator is under 21 years of age and can prove that he had a reasonable belief that the girl was over the age of 16 it is a defence to this crime”.

[24] “The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls. No age of consent is prescribed for boys. Homosexual sexual contact is illegal at any age whether the contact is consensual or not. A boy under 12 years old is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse”.

[25] “The age of sexual consent for girls is 16 years and the age of sexual consent for boys is 12 years. Sodomy is illegal at any age. […] The general offences include indecent assault of girls under 16 and indecent assaults on boys and girls under 12 (''indecent assault'' would appears to include consensual sex). It is no defence to a charge of indecent assault or carnal knowledge of a child under 12 to show that the child consented. Sexual intercourse with a girl under 12 years old is also prohibited. It is no defence to show that the girl consented or that the accused had an honest belief that the girl was over 12 years old. Additionally, it is illegal to have sexual intercourse with an unmarried girl under 18 years of age”.

[26] “The age of sexual consent for females is 15 years. There is no age prescribed for males. Male homosexual sex is prohibited whether it is consensual or not. […] A male under the age of 12 is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse”.

[27] “The age of sexual consent is 15 years for a girl to have heterosexual sexual contact and 18 years for girls and boys to have homosexual sexual contact. There appears to be no heterosexual age of consent for boys”.

[28] Murray, S. O. (1990) Pacific cultures, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc. Vol II, p937-40

[29]Murray, S. O. (Ed., 1992) Oceanic Homosexualities. New York & London: Garland. Esp. section on “age-stratified homosexuality: introduction” [p3-150] and Murray’s introductory notes, and Introduction, p3-23

[30] Jensen, A. E. (1933) Beschneidung und Reifezeremonien bei Naturvölkern. Frankfurt am Main: Strecker & Schröder, p74-114

[31] Zeller, M. (1923) Die Knabenweihen. Bern: Paul Haupt, p41-66

[32] Chung, M. (March, 2000) Summary of Research Findings on Adolescent Sexuality & Men’s Attitudes to Family Planning In Pacific Island Countries. Report prepared for the Regional Population and Reproductive Health Advocacy Project, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, p11-8