Back in 2013, the Oceanian country Papua New Guinea (PNG) was dubbed one of the world’s worst places in terms of gender violence. Flash forward three years to now, and no substantial improvement can be seen in the country. In fact, things are just as dire as ever.
Statistics gathered in 2015 by Human Rights Watch show the terrible, almost surreal reality of what it is like to be a woman in the former English colony. PNG is home to approximately 3.8 million females; an estimated 70% of them have experienced rape/assault during their lifetime. Half of the general female population experience marital rape, and half of all rape reports involve victims under the age of 15. A research in one area even found that 41% men have raped a woman.
Many people point to drugs, unemployment and boredom when discussion about the causes of the widespread gender violence surfaces. However, anthropological studies show that gender inequality has always been part of traditional customs. Practices like polygamy and bride pricing are still carried out. Child marriages with kids aged as low as 14 years old are deemed acceptable. Witch-hunts, in which women are accused of sorcery and are therefore brutally tortured/killed, occur frequently. All these traditions reinforce the notion that women are so inferior in the New Guinean society that they are essentially properties to men.
Aside from culture, gender violence in PNG continues to happen because the government and other authorities do not take significant action. There are some laws aimed to protect women, such as the 2003 Criminal Code and the Evidence Act, which criminalize spousal rape and sexual harassment. Unfortunately, such laws are not enforced. The police, ideally playing the role of bringing justice for gender violence victims, keep mum. They are corrupt and generally uninterested in crimes against women, which is why only few perpetrators are ever captured—and why many women choose not to report assault at all. Meanwhile, hospitals and medical services are often underfunded in the poverty-stricken country, making matters worse.
How do gender violence victims in need of help cope? A select few are willing to go to extremities. Lilly Joe, a mother of four, chose earlier this year to stay in a prison cell at the capital Port Moresby even though she had not committed any crime. For her, a cramped room in a police station is better than her own home, where she has to face her abusive, drunk husband. Most women, though, do not have the same luxury as Lilly Joe. Many of them are left with little choice but to stay silent.

Despite everything, there is a glimmer of hope. Local efforts have been increasing over the years, including shelters as well as counseling services and campaigns. Women leaders, community organizations and local magistrates are beginning to stand up and help women against the plight of gender violence. Nevertheless, even these efforts come with a price: many shelters have become targets of attack by men, some of whom employ gang members to support.
Sometimes nowhere is safe.
References:
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/papua-new-guinea http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/why-70-per-cent-of-papua-new-guineas-women-will-be-raped-in-thei/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/19/papua-new-guinea-spiralling-violence
‘Country Gender Profile: Papua New Guinea’ by Japan International Cooperation Agency
