London/Sydney, Australia A soon-to-be-released report by Professor Carmen Lawrence, Professor Wendy Bacon, Pamela Curr, Claire O'Connor S.C, Luisa Low and Julie Macken from the organisation Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru, reveals the extent of human rights abuses taking place on the island of Nauru, daily. The report brings together existing reports such as the 2015 Moss Review, the Senate Committee Report investigating ongoing sexual assault and the Australian Human Rights Commission report, The Forgotten Children. The report includes first hand reports of the ongoing sexual humiliation, assault and intimidation of women refugees on Nauru. “There are few places on earth that are more dangerous for refugee women than Nauru,” said spokeswoman Julie Macken. “This is confirmed by the number of refugee women who, having been raped and humiliated on the island, struggle to continue living.” “The nightmare of abuse is made even worse because the women know they will never got off the island and they will never be free from the men that attack them with impunity,” continued Ms Macken. The authors argue the Australian government is knowingly exposing vulnerable women asylum seekers and refugees to rape, humiliation and trauma on Nauru. Since the Australian government reopened the Nauru detention centre in 2012, women asylum seekers have been exposed to sexual humiliation and harassment on a daily basis. Women have been raped and sexually harrassed by local Nauruans and employees of Wilson and Broadspectrum – formerly Transfield. Despite detailed evidence of sexual assault – particularly pregnancies resulting from rape - the Australian government refuses to act and continues to leave vulnerable women in this dangerous situation. With the rule of law now completely degraded, there is no protection for these women let alone recourse to justice. Both major political parties in Australia, Labor and the Coalition, agreed to establish offshore processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. They have both supported laws that gag those who report what happens on Nauru with the threat of two years jail. They have done so in the full knowledge that this form of detention destroys the mental, emotional and often physical health of those seeking asylum. The physical layout of both centres on Nauru, create an environment where sexual assault can flourish. The lack of privacy, contract arrangements with private service providers, mounting tension between asylum seekers, refugees and the local Nauruan community, the lack of any external oversight, and a complete breakdown in the law and order on the island mean women are now more vulnerable than at any time during in the twelve-year history of these detention centres. The principal contracted service provider - Transfield Services – have reported that 30 formal allegations of child abuse had been made against detention staff, 15 allegations of sexual assault or rape, and four allegations relating to the exchange of sexual favours for contraband. Wilson Security provided details of eleven cases in which staff were terminated for misconduct including inappropriate relationships, alleged sexual assault, sexual harassment, excessive use of force toward an asylum seeker, trading in contraband including for sexual favours, and throwing a rock at an asylum seeker. Asylum seeker advocates argue these numbers are the tip of the iceberg in an environment where intimidation and fear dominates. Nauru is now a black site with access to the island denied to the media and civil society, there is no oversight. In an extraordinary development, last September, 2015, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, cancelled a visit to Nauru because the newly introduced Border Force Act would have made it too difficult and risky for people on the island to give evidence about the detention centres. Mr. Crepeau said in a statement that the Border Force Act, which makes it a crime for immigration and border protection workers to disclose information about offshore detention centres, "serves to discourage people from fully disclosing information relevant to my mandate". As the international community wrestles with the reality of over a million refugees moving through Europe, the “Australian Solution” is considered as a possible alternative option for the containment of refugees. This report makes it clear that this is a failed policy, one bereft of any humanity or morality and a policy that condemns Australia as being in breach of the Rights of the Child, the Refugee Convention, the Convention on Torture, to name just a few. “The Australian Solution is one paid for by the suffering and humiliation of women, their children and men,” said Macken. “We beg the international community to not to take the path Australia has chosen.” For further information contact Julie Macken, Sydney, Australia: +61 0440 925 217 jmacken@vtown.com.au