Study finds 'severe' brutality against women in Papua New Guinea

[Violet_Crumble]

This is from a year ago, but things haven't changed at all since then. It may sound weird, but what happens to women in PNG hits home for me far more than other places where there's horrific abuses against women, coz I've been to PNG...

Medecins Sans Frontieres estimates that 70 per cent of women in PNG will be raped or physically assaulted in their lifetime.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/study-finds-severe-brutality-against-women-in-papua-new-guinea-20130814-2rv3m.html#ixzz35pNB98Cu


Sydney: Women in poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea suffer "severe brutality" with violence, including savage attacks involving knives, axes and whips, occurring in two-thirds of all families, a new study said.

Based on interviews in Central Province's Rigo district, the report by Australian charity ChildFund detailed extreme acts of violence including a woman who had her lower lip bitten off by a stranger and one whose infant son's unconscious body was used as a weapon against her.

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At the city's Family Support Centre, ChildFund said they saw women with chunks of skin, cheeks, noses and ears missing after violent biting attacks, as well as injuries from spears, bush knives or machetes and whips.

PNG's government enacted harsh new laws earlier this year making sexual and other crimes against women punishable by death after a spate of violence including the burning alive of a young mother accused of witchcraft, the beheading of another, and the rape of two foreigners.

Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has labelled PNG's sexual and domestic violence a humanitarian crisis, with epidemic levels of abuse unique outside of a war-zone or state of civil unrest.

The group has said that violence is inherent in the way the population resolves disputes at a tribal, family and interpersonal level. The extremely low status of women in the country is also a factor.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/study-finds-severe-brutality-against-women-in-papua-new-guinea-20130814-2rv3m.html#ixzz35pMy6vEk