'Do black girls' lives matter?' Special envoy calls for change in the NT

There are increasing calls to improve safety and provide domestic, family and sexual violence services in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, after a 16-year-old girl was allegedly murdered in a domestic violence attack earlier this month.A 26-year-old man has faced court over the death of the teenager in the community of Alpurrurulum near the NT–Queensland border, while there's growing pressure for a permanent police station to be reopened in the community.Special Envoy for Remote Communities Marion Scrymgour said she had written to the federal and Territory government to ask for the police station, which closed in 2018, to be reopened."At the heart of all of this is that we don't have the police, resources or infrastructure on the ground in those communities," she said."Do young black girls lives matter? That's what it gets down to."We are seeing too many young women losing their lives and often it gets caught up in really silly debates, but we've got to value the life of people."Marion Scrymgour says too many women are losing their lives in the NT. (ABC News: Will Green)Ms Scrymgour said violence was not isolated to Alpurrurulum."There are women and children in Wadeye that are in fear for their lives as well," she said."I'm about to go up to the Top End and go to Katherine because of the level of violence there, and I'll try and get out to Wadeye as well."Peak body calls for servicesThe Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) has called for urgent investment in domestic, family, and sexual violence services for women and children in remote communities.Chief executive Donna Ah Chee said AMSANT's members were growing increasingly concerned about the lack of specialist family violence services, safe accommodation and permanent police presence in remote communities.Donna Ah Chee says everyone deserves to be safe, no matter where they live. (ABC News: Eleni Roussos)She said in many remote communities, a health clinic might be the only service available to respond when a woman or child is experiencing violence, particularly after hours, but there needed to be specialised support services."That moment of contact needs to lead somewhere: to a specialist worker, a safe place to stay and support that continues after the clinic doors close," she said."Aboriginal community-controlled health services are already responding to family violence alongside their core healthcare responsibilities, often in communities with very limited specialist support. That work needs dedicated resourcing."Ms Ah Chee said evidence-based alcohol supply regulation and effective monitoring of alcohol in restricted communities were also part of the solution."Every woman and child in the Territory deserves to be safe, wherever they live," she said."Keeping women and children safe requires a coordinated response across health, housing, specialist family-violence services and government. No single service can do it alone."