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View Full Version : [Possible Trigger Warning] Worrying PNG statistics on violence against women



Flying Purple People Eater
7th October 2013, 17:26
http://www.pngfacts.com/25/post/2013/02/png-domestic-violence-statistics.html

PNG domestic Violence statistics
02/17/20132 Comments

The National - SIXTY-eight percent or more than 2.3 million women in Papua New Guinea have experienced violence, Health Minister Michael Malabag said.
One third, or 1.13 million, were subjected to rape and 17% of sexual abuse involved girls between the ages 13 and 14.
The staggering statistics were revealed by Malabag at the observation of the 1 Billion Rising event at Port Moresbys Jack Pidik Park. And suggestions were that the figures were even higher as numbers of were based on reported cases.


Grimmer still was Malabags comment that the abuses and violence against our women was not getting any better.
Accused of sorcery killing, a 20-year-old woman, the mother of a baby girl, was tortured and burnt alive last week and two others were saved from a similar barbaric fate by quick police action.


These incidents highlighted some of the abuses faced in this country.
Women gathered to join worldwide commemoration of the 1 Billion Rising event yesterday, with the theme Break the silence, make a statement.


Sixty eight percent of women in PNG have experienced one form of violence or another, Malabag told the gathering.
One-third of women were subjected to rape and 17% of sexual abuse involves young girls between the ages of 13 and 14.


Malabag said a recent study by the PNG Institute of Medical Research showed that 55% or 1.86 million of PNG women were victims of forced sex within marriage.
And I believe the situation has worsened.
We still have a long way to go in dealing with our attitude, Malabag said.


He said lack of government attention and support had contributed to the current situation.

However, he condemned those who encouraged early marriage and prostitution, saying such acts reduced womens dignity.
He said the Constitution allowed for equal participation in development where women should not be overlooked.


Malabag also announced that more family support centres would be established throughout the country to cater for victims of abuse and violence.


Gender issues cannot be separated from health issues.
Women are not just beaten but die because they do not have basic support centres even in the city.
Instead of being reactive, we must be proactive.
Let us not wait for women to report the cases.


Coinciding with Valentines Day, the occasion provided an opportunity for women and the public to call for an end to abuse and violence against women in PNG. 


- The National


Read more: http://www.pngfacts.com/25/post/2013/02/png-domestic-violence-statistics.html#ixzz2h3PYEI5C

Horrifying.

Popularis
7th October 2013, 18:42
Some societies are just beyond contempt.

synthesis
8th October 2013, 00:09
Some societies are just beyond contempt.

I don't know if that's the right way to look at this. Papua New Guinea, from what I understand, is kind of the equivalent of American Indian reservations in the U.S. in terms of the degree to which they've been left behind by the government presiding over them. (Rape and violence against women is also an extremely (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/opinion/native-americans-and-the-violence-against-women-act.html?_r=0) serious (http://jezebel.com/5912932/rape-on-indian-reservations-reaches-epidemic-proportions) problem (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/on-indian-land-criminals-can-get-away-with-almost-anything/273391/) on those reservations, but it's not because American Indian society is "beyond contempt." It's because the state apparatus doesn't give a shit about keeping it in check.)

I really, really hope this doesn't come across as dismissive or apologetic, but the reason places like Papua New Guinea (and South Africa, especially) seem to be especially violent to Westerners is because there's a modern media, which is going to report the most fucked up news (not with bad intentions, of course) and this international media is operating in the sort of pre-modern conditions that facilitate this systemic violence. This anti-social behavior is, very sadly, universal; it would be happening where you live if you lived in the same conditions, and it takes a lot more than just dismissing a whole population to do anything about it.

khad
8th October 2013, 00:29
I don't know if that's the right way to look at this. Papua New Guinea, from what I understand, is kind of the equivalent of American Indian reservations in the U.S. in terms of the degree to which they've been left behind by the government presiding over them. (Rape and violence against women is also an extremely (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/opinion/native-americans-and-the-violence-against-women-act.html?_r=0) serious (http://jezebel.com/5912932/rape-on-indian-reservations-reaches-epidemic-proportions) problem (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/on-indian-land-criminals-can-get-away-with-almost-anything/273391/) on those reservations, but it's not because American Indian society is "beyond contempt." It's because the state apparatus doesn't give a shit about keeping it in check.)

I really, really hope this doesn't come across as dismissive or apologetic, but the reason places like Papua New Guinea (and South Africa, especially) seem to be especially violent to Westerners is because there's a modern media, which is going to report the most fucked up news (not with bad intentions, of course) and this international media is operating in the sort of pre-modern conditions that facilitate this systemic violence. This anti-social behavior is, very sadly, universal; it would be happening where you live if you lived in the same conditions, and it takes a lot more than just dismissing a whole population to do anything about it.
It's good you started this discussion, because it is too complex phenomenon for simple models.

As a good starting point, there was this seminal study on the prevalence of physical and sexual violence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific:

http://www.partners4prevention.org/about-prevention/research/men-and-violence-study

While as a leftist I am sympathetic to straight socioeconomic/developmental explanations of systemic violence, there are obviously many more factors at play. Papua New Guinea has far and above the highest percentage of rapists in the region at 59%, vs 15% for Bangladesh, for instance (a far poorer country). On the other side, 23% of Saudis are raped as children, and that's a country with essentially first world income levels.