June 01, 2015 12:17PM
Members of the Raskol gang 'Dirty Dons
585', Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The gang committed a set of rapes and
armed robberies. 'Dirty Dons' admit that two thirds of their victims are women.
Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures Source: Supplied
WARNING:
GRAPHIC CONTENT
MARGARET’S husband has used knives, stones, metal and bottles to inflict
pain. He has threatened to find boys to pack rape her and told her often that he
would kill her. “You see this stone? It is nice and hard and round. If I put it
on your head you are dead. When we are home I will really kill you.”
Once, Margaret’s husband tried to punch her in the face, missed and hit their
one-month-old baby Sammy instead, knocking him unconscious. While Margaret and
Sammy’s story is extreme, sadly it is representative.
Margaret’s husband used to pick her
baby up and hit her with him. He would try to punch her in the face when she was
breastfeeding. All she wants is to live quietly with her baby and not have him
injured by his father. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/ChildFund Australia/Haus Ruth
Source: Supplied
Sexual violence is so common in Papua New Guinea that rapists from ‘raskol’
gangs are happy to proudly pose for photos and boast about what they’ve
done.
The statistics are horrifying. Two thirds of women are subjected to some kind
of physical or sexual violence. Doctors Without Borders have reported that in
Papua New Guinea they are dealing with levels of gender violence normally
experienced in war zones.
Sadly, the violence doesn’t just extend to women, with children frequently in
danger. Children younger than 16 account for half the number of people seeking
medical help after being raped. One in four is younger than twelve; one in ten
is under eight years old.
Richard Bal shows off the disfigured
ear of his wife, Agita. In December 2010, after coming home drunk, Richard took
a bush-knife and cut off half of Agita's left ear. He spent one night in the
police station and was released the next morning due to 'insufficient evidence'.
Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures Source: Supplied
For Wendy, daddy is a ‘dangerous man’. She has stood and watched in horror as
he has whipped and stabbed her mother Kay across her legs and back. Kay’s
husband has hit her with a hammer, stabbed her feet with kitchen knives, cut her
with bush knives and whipped her with extension cords. Once he belted her from
10pm until Kay escaped at 5am. She hid in the bush before running to the police
station.
“Wendy just stands there and stares at us and cries and cries,” says Kay. “It
is like a nightmare to her. In the night she doesn’t sleep properly, she’s
always calling my name.”
Terrifyingly, Wendy experienced her father’s fury first hand at age five. Kay
recalls the ordeal, which resulted in a split lip and injured jaw.
“[He] got the little girl, bashed her up and then lifted her up, face down,
and threw her on the concrete.”
For Kay, seeing her children’s life in danger brought her to Haus Ruth, a
women’s refuge in Port Moresby. Her husband continued to linger outside the
refuge’s security gates and make threats, but Kay refused to give up on the hope
of freedom for her family, saying, “I just want to live somewhere where he won’t
bother me and the children again.”
Helen was attacked by a stranger who
bit her bottom lip off. She is now fighting for women’s rights in Papua New
Guinea and is part of Vlad Sokhin’s Crying Meri exhibition. Photo: Vlad
Sokhin/ChildFund Australia Source:
Supplied
A doctor at an antenatal clinic in
Port Moresby examines a 14-year-old girl, who was raped by a 40-year-old lawyer.
The victim said that the man was a friend of her family so she didn't suspect
anything when he offered her a lift. But he drove the girl to his house, raped
her and then left her on the road. The girl's father brought his daughter to the
hospital but wasn't sure if he wanted to sue the rapist. Photo: Vlad
Sokhin/Panos Pictures Source:
Supplied
For women and children seeking help, there are resources available but they
are limited. Shelters and refuge centres exist but there are not nearly enough.
Support can be found in church groups and in a positive move, there are now
family violence units in some hospitals and police stations.
Two years ago, outrage against gender violence in Papua New Guinea reached
fever pitch when Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother of one was accused of
sorcery, dragged from her home, tortured, stripped naked, doused in petrol and
set alight on a pyre of tyres at a local rubbish dump. Police tried to intervene
but were stopped by crowds watching the burning.
Prior to the murder, a young boy in the village had complained of stomach
pains and later died. The family, finding no explanation for the senseless
tragedy, became suspicious of sorcery and witchcraft, and Kepari Leniata quickly
became the target of accusations. Leniata ‘confessed’ to the murder while being
tortured by her accusers.
While sorcery related torture and murder in Papua New Guinea was once widely
unseen and unheard, cameras on mobile phones have enabled documentation from
some of the most remote parts of the country, reaching millions of people across
the world.
Many people present at Leniata’s death recorded the gruesome burning, and
soon it was covered in the world’s most prominent media outlets — sparking
domestic and international debate about the crippling gender violence problems
facing the Pacific nation.
A mother grieves the death of her
daughter, 25, who died in the Emergency section of the Port Moresby General
Hospital after being raped on the street by members of Raskol gang. Photo: Vlad
Sokhin/Panos Pictures Source:
Supplied
For Cassie Rangip, a Papua New Guinean woman living in Brisbane, the story
really shocked to the core.
“Seeing those images was a turning point. I couldn’t stand by while such
atrocities took place. Mobile technology has allowed us to see very ugly,
violent things, in some of the most remote parts of Papua New Guinea. Now the
world can gain an insight into what is happening to our women.
“I knew that violence against women is not an uncommon occurrence in Papua
New Guinea, but when those images surfaced, I felt compelled to do something.
Sadly violence is not just in remote locations, and related to suspected
witchcraft. Gender violence is rife throughout the entire country, in homes and
on the streets.”
From tragedy, Leniata Legacy was born. Dedicated to
fighting gender violence in Papua New Guinea and Australia, a group of Papua New
Guinean women are working tirelessly to provide support, resources and education
to women and children in need.
In Papua New Guinea, the current popular opinion is that women are inferior.
When marrying, men pay a ‘bride price’ to the woman’s family, meaning a new wife
is easily seen as another possession. Gangs known as ‘raskols’ promote a culture
of rape, violence and intimidation on the streets of larger towns and
cities.
Omsy is an ex-member of the Kips
Kaboni gang, with his wife Carol in their house. Omsy was a rapist and thief but
left the gang a few years ago to become a bass guitarist. Omsy says that when he
quit the gang he also stopped beating his wife. However he keeps his handmade
gun to protect his family, as they live in Kaugeri, a dangerous settlement in
Port Moresby. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures Source: Supplied
Then there is the problem of witchcraft and sorcery accusations in remote
areas, leading to the public torture and persecution of randomly selected women
and occasionally, men. The accusations breed from a culture of fear and render
victims indefensible against whisperings of witchcraft.
Kepari was a high profile case, and her death has spurred a lot of positive
change, but many others continue to be accused, living in fear, and
helpless.
ChildFund Australia has an active presence
in Papua New Guinea and is working with local organisations and communities to
improve the situation.
“Even the most basic information about gender violence is lacking, so we are
working hard to ensure that women experiencing violence are equipped to make
well informed decisions,” said ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence.
“We are in the process of setting up a national hotline that is staffed by
trained local counsellors. It’s a free service for women under threat so they
can get basic information about their rights, as well as referral services.
There is a long way to go and in some areas there is no victim assistance
available. Slowly we are seeing positive change.”
For those within reach of a hospital, understanding what their options are
legally puts them in a stronger place.
“To file for a medical report, which is required to process any criminal
case, costs 20 kina ($A10) which many women do not have. Without the medical
report, a case cannot proceed. Knowing such things helps provide a good fighting
chance of getting out of an abusive situation,” said Mr Spence.
Rose’s husband attacked her with a
knife, so she fled and was too scared to come home for two nights. Her husband
then abused her baby girl. When she returned and challenged him on the damage
done to their baby, her husband said it wouldn’t have happened had she not left
for two nights. Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund Australia / Haus Ruth
Source: Supplied
To understand why such atrocities occur, an understanding of Papua New Guinea
certainly helps, and an integral part of that is the Wantok system. The country
is a rich tapestry of unique cultures and over 800 languages that have developed
due to the remote nature of most tribes. The terrain in large parts of the
country is challenging to traverse, with steep highlands resulting in isolated
communities.
Wantok means ‘one talk’ and a strong social mechanism called ‘the Wantok
system’ promotes a communal culture within the tribes where resources are shared
and responsibility is divided between those in the community. It also means that
issues within the community are dealt with within the community, rather than
through Government enforced laws of the country. For this reason, it is strongly
frowned upon for women to turn to police.
A lack of community intervention is a key area for targeted change. Abuse
victim Regina was often hit in front of other people. She remembers the
humiliation of her husband ripping her dress off and hitting her, naked in front
of their home. “People watched. There are a million other women facing the same
problem,” she recalled. Neighbours, friends and extended family are often
unwilling to meddle in what is seen as private family business. There is also
the fear they will be assaulted too.
Jessica and Molly grieve for their big
sister Margaret while sitting on her grave. When Margaret tried to escape her
husband he killed her. Jessica says: “He found her and smashed her head on a
car. No one stopped him. He belted her too much ... There was blood running from
her eyes and nose and mouth when she died.” Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund
Australia / Haus Ruth Source:
Supplied
Companies and communities are working hard to promote change and encourage a
gender violence mentality shift. Pacific telecommunications company Digicel aims
to break the cycle of violence through focusing on positive behaviour for
affirmative action through their ‘Men of Honour’ Award campaign.
“Papua New Guinean men have been vilified for decades, but there are
honourable men who are alleviating suffering and preserving human dignity in the
roles they play. Through the award, communities are encouraged to look within
their communities to identify male role models and positive behaviour and
nominate ordinary men who are doing extraordinary things,” said Beatrice Mahuru,
CEO of Digicel Foundation PNG.
“These men have a greater ability to mentor and encourage other men to act
courageously and take a stand against gender violence. Such initiatives
highlight how communities and companies are working hard to make a change in
PNG.”
There has been progress tackling this issue within government, although not
as quickly as many would like. Last year the Family Protection Bill was passed,
criminalising domestic violence and giving power to the police to remove
perpetrators from their homes to protect the victim.
For Cassie at Leniata Legacy and many others fighting this omnipresent
epidemic, the fight will never end.
“As long as there is gender violence in PNG, we will be working. We’re seeing
positive change and communities rallying together, but there is a long way to
go.”
Taina is an elder in his community. He
has transformed to a peaceful man from being violent in his younger years. He
has come to see that life is better if men and women walk alongside each other
as equal partners. Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund Australia Source: Supplied
Join the conversation online by using the hashtag: #stopviolencePNG
