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SYDNEY - A New Zealand lawyer acting for nine women involved in the Pitcairn Island rape trials is considering a class action against the British government to seek compensation for the abuse they suffered.
Bruce Corkill QC said the women, most of whom live in New Zealand, were frustrated at delayed responses from British representatives to requests for compensation under a statutory scheme for victims of crime.
Under the scheme, victims are compensated with amounts based on the severity of their suffering.
But it doesn't apply to residents of Britain's overseas territories, although they hold British citizenship.
Mr Corkill wrote to representatives of New Zealand-based British Governor of Pitcairn, George Fergusson, in September asking that a parallel compensation scheme be set up for the island.
"This thing is going on and on, and they are naturally unhappy at the long period of time it's taking to get anywhere," Mr Corkill told The Australian newspaper.
"If the Crown continues its stance of not engaging, or says no, then we will be testing that decision with a class action taken in the Pitcairn Supreme Court."
Under the British scheme, the women would be entitled to up to £33,000 ($83,600) each for psychological injuries, The Australian reported.
The victims are aged from their early 20s to mid-50s and gave their initial police statements in 2000.
At trials on the remote island in 2004 and in New Zealand in 2006, eight Pitcairn men were convicted of raping and sexually assaulting young girls, while a ninth man pleaded guilty.
Six were given prison sentences, and three are still in jail on Pitcairn.
"If a scheme of this kind is good enough for Britain, it's hard to see why it shouldn't be good enough for Pitcairn," Mr Corkill said.
"And if it's good enough to bring the offenders to account by applying the laws of England, the flip side is to ensure the victims are looked after properly.
"I think it's appalling that the women haven't received anything."
The victims include two sisters who were repeatedly raped by one Pitcairner, Brian Young, from the ages of seven and nine respectively.
At his trial in Auckland in 2006, Young, who is serving a 6-1/2-year sentence, accused the girls of "flirting" with him.
In their only media interviews to date, the pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said they felt they were entitled to compensation from Britain.
"Others get it, so why are we any different?" asked one woman.
"There's all this money going into the island, but the victims haven't received a cent.
"The perpetrators are getting all the benefits.
"We've been through a hell of a lot, and the British have won their case thanks to us, but now it's over they've just brushed us aside."
- NZPA
