The case studies of coalitions in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Tonga highlight four influential factors in the formation and functioning of coalitions:
Formative events: What brought people together to ‘do something’ in a concerted way? For example, the torture and death of a woman in a sorcery-related violence incident generated the impetus for the formation of the Papua New Guinea coalition examined in this study. Whether formative events are locally or externally driven appears to mould the future shape of a coalition and how it functions.
This study analysed a random selection of 908 cases from seven Pacific Island countries, including 111 domestic violence cases and 787 sexual assault cases. Each case is analysed to determine whether gender stereotypes, customary reconciliation (e.g. apology, forgiveness) or other contentious factors were considered during sentencing. Contentious factors are those factors which, when used in mitigation by the court, discriminate against the victim on the basis of her gender.
This study deals with research on eight critical areas of concern covered in the Revised Pacific Platform for Action 2005-2015: education, health, climate change and environment, economic empowerment, gender mainstreaming, leadership and decision-making, violence against women and human rights.
While gender research on each issue exists in one way or another in the Pacific, there are many unknowns as to the scope, nature, and quality of this research. This study therefore:
- Maps and provides a gap analysis of existing gender research in the eight thematic areas.
There is growing evidence that at both national and sub-national level, the social capital of urban elites (male and female alike) does not translate into votes at the ballot box. Instead, women who perform well at the polls:
- Are “of the people”, i.e. either community based or have deep connections to their electorates;
- Have strong male backers – powerful fathers, brothers, or husbands or, as the 2012 Papua New Guinea elections demonstrated, male supporters who maintain control over polling booths and coordinate the process of 'assisted voting';