WUNRN
Full Article: http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95249/PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA-Sexual-violence-forcing-girls-out-of-school
PAPUA
NEW GUINEA - SEXUAL VIOLENCE FORCING GIRLS OUT OF SCHOOL - STUDY
PORT
MORESBY, 6 April 2012 (IRIN) - In the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG)
sexual violence against young girls, and the shame and stigma that follows, is
forcing many out of school and others into early marriage.
A recent study by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), one of the
country’s main providers of medical and psychological assistance to survivors
of family and sexual violence, showed that from 2008 to 2011, a significant
proportion of patients who received treatment as a result of violence were
children, some under the age of five......
___________________________________________________________________
Direct Link to Full 34-Page Report:
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - CRITICAL GAPS IN
SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
In a recent report,
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - the largest provider of specialized medical
and psychosocial services to survivors of family and sexual violence in the
country - highlights the "urgent, unmet medical and emotional needs of
survivors of gender violence" in this half-island nation.
The international health NGO said it had seen more than 11,000 survivors of
family and sexual violence in PNG, including 2,000 survivors of sexual
violence, between January 2008 and October 2011.
In Lae,
In Tari,
"The problems have always been there but we did not have any concrete data
and information. Now that MSF has moved into the country, the situation is
becoming much clearer," Ume Wainetti, head of the Family and Sexual Action
Committee, a government programme set up to address gender violence, told IRIN.
PNG, with more than six million inhabitants, is known for its high rate of
gender-based violence.
According to the PNG Law Reform Commission, 70 percent of women in PNG say they
have been physically abused by their husbands. That number reaches 100 percent
in some parts of the country.
And though domestic violence is a criminal offence, it continues to be viewed
as a private matter and rarely addressed in public, according to the Social
Institutions and Gender Index of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development.
Over the years, when survivors sought care at hospitals or health centres, their
specific medical and psychological needs were not recognized.
"Survivors with serious physical injuries will have their wounds tended to
and will be sent back home. Their less visible health needs, with negative and
potentially fatal long-term consequences, are completely neglected by
Most
cases go unreported and services are limited |
"This neglect is causing suffering and, at times, putting
lives at risk," MSF said in its report.
Guidelines
Joan* fled her home in the capital, Port Moresby, in late 2011, leaving her
four children and their abusive father, a senior government official, with a
broken arm, after living a life she described as hell.
"We survived on the little income I was earning from the ice blocks I was
selling. My children and I never saw his wages. When I inquired, I was bashed
up and told to shut up. He drank and gambled a lot," the 30-year-old said
from her Chimbu village where she is recovering in her family home.
MSF recommends that the National Department of Health take charge of policy-making
and set up treatment protocols and guidelines for survivors, implement
operational guidelines, provide support to family support centres, and waive
fees for treatment of survivors of family, sexual violence and child abuse.
And while the government is aware of the problem, it has no reliable data to
work on. The most recent is about 20 years old and was gathered by the
Constitutional Law Reform Commission, which works on new legislation for the
government before parliament passes it.
However, it has moved to address gender violence, albeit slowly, both at the
political and administrative levels.
"Already parliament had passed the Lukautim Pikinini Act,
to protect children from all forms of abuse. In 2002, it also passed amendments
to the Criminal Code, to protect women from domestic and sexual violence, even
marital rape, but we still have problems with enforcement. The Family
Protection Bill is still awaiting parliament to pass it. Hopefully this will be
done next year," Wainetti said.
At the administrative level, all major hospitals in the country set up family
support centres to provide medical and psychological services but they are
operating with unskilled staff and on very small budgets.
"We have already provided training to staff at Mendi, Mt Hagen, Vanimo,
Goroka, Nonga and Kudjip hospitals. We are training staff right now at Buka,
Alotau and Wabag hospitals," Patrick Almeida, medical coordinator of MSF,
said.
Meanwhile, a lack of financial support has seen the closure of a number of
shelters for abused women in PNG. Of four in the capital, only one can provide
services effectively.
"The problem is bad. We pretend that it is not there," Wainetti said.