Gender-based violence (GBV), notably intimate associate violence, is a critical concern in Papua New Guinea, the place the speed of violence towards girls is round 80%. One in each two girls within the nation is a sufferer of intimate associate violence.
A protracted-term measure to fight intimate associate violence includes educating youngsters and youth concerning the short- and long-term results on people, households, communities and PNG extra broadly. As younger individuals turn into extra conscious of the legal guidelines and help accessible to them, they are going to be empowered to hunt assist in the event that they themselves are victims of home violence or help associates, household and others. Importantly, those that take into account the perpetrators of violence can also weigh the potential penalties of their actions, additional contributing to the discount of intimate associate violence in PNG.
The 2023 survey of 250 younger individuals between the ages of 13 and 25 offered insights into their perceptions of what intimate associate violence is, and the way it may be addressed on the group degree. Individuals have been requested whether or not they have been conscious of home violence legal guidelines within the nation, resembling Household Safety Act 2013 (Determine 1). The information reveals a constructive outcome.
For PNG to realize a discount within the incidence of home violence sooner or later, it is very important educate the youth about this subject and different social challenges. The youth maintain the important thing to form the way forward for the nation. They’ve the potential to turn into brokers of change or damaging forces in our society.
Consciousness and understanding of family-related legal guidelines will affect younger individuals’s ideas, actions and interactions with others, in the end resulting in behavioral and cultural modifications. By enjoying an necessary position in these societies, they’ll additionally educate their households and communities about these legal guidelines, spreading the message of change. In case they themselves are victims of home violence, they are going to be empowered to hunt justice.
As illustrated in Determine 2, many younger individuals who knew about these legal guidelines shared this data with others. Some used social media platforms whereas others shared data informally by telling tales to their households, associates, and colleagues or by means of extra formal conversations—throughout lessons, work displays, conferences, and coaching.
The information additionally reveals that 78% of the younger individuals surveyed (Determine 3) know that the household and sexual violence unit represented within the police stations in Port Moresby is the primary place to get assist in relation to incidents of home violence. After taking the survey, 20.8% of those that didn’t know now know that this unit exists. One participant stated:
All my life I grew up in Port Moresby, I had no concept that there was this particular unit that handled home violence points within the metropolis. After doing this survey, now I do know, and can unfold the data to my classmates.
There’s a false impression in communities in PNG that the Household and Sexual Violence Unit is just for girls victims of home violence. Nonetheless, the vast majority of younger women and men surveyed consider that it helps women and men who’re victims of home violence and different types of GBV.
Lastly, it can be crucial that discussions about home violence legal guidelines and the companies accessible to victims be held in colleges, given the period of time that youth spend there. All colleges in PNG should take steps and collaborate with numerous organizations and teams to conduct consciousness periods for college students and workers. That is a method wherein the group can work collectively to resolve this downside.
Adopting such an strategy will assist promote a tradition of gender equality, respect and non-violence amongst college students, lecturers and different workers, the social help wanted to fight home violence and different types of GBV in Port Moresby and PNG. Contribute to vary. Broadly talking.
to disclose
This analysis was undertaken in collaboration with the ANU-UPNG Partnership, an initiative of the PNG-Australia Partnership, funded by the Division of Overseas Affairs and Commerce. The views are solely these of the writer.