Gender-based Violence and the Impact on Women's Health and Well-being in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research study into gender based violence in Papua New Guinea and the impact on women's health and well-being. Data were gathered using a validated WHO instrument designed for multi-country use. Two hundred women were surveyed from rural and urban areas in coastal, highland and island provinces. Despite United Nations conventions, government policies and laws, the finding is that the extent of violence against women in PNG is alarming. Two-thirds of the women had been victims of gender-based violence and this statistic was the same as a finding from a Law Reform Commission study more than twenty years ago (Toft and Bonnell, 1985; Toft, 1986). Despite extensive public awareness and education programs about gender equity and women's rights, women's acceptance of a submissive role and a man's right to hit a woman or demand sex are equally alarming. After a lifetime of women being socialised into a subservient role, there are no easy or quick solutions to achieving gender equality. It requires efforts by many stakeholders to address discrimination, promote women's equality and empowerment, and protect and uphold women's human rights.