251 results
 Pacific Data Hub

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.

 Pacific Data Hub

Fiji and PNG were part of the World Bank’s qualitative study informing the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development, for which local researchers organised focus groups to systematically record the factors that women and men in the study saw as helping to increase their feelings of empowerment.

 Pacific Data Hub

This short paper details a pilot project using mobile phones to record and report data about accusations of witchcraft at funerals. The pilot is part of a growing body of work that uses mobile phones to collect and record data in environments that are otherwise difficult to reach, and for a wide range of purposes, including health, education, agriculture and development. The project also shares important features with conflict-mapping programs which use mobiles phones to track and map outbreaks of violence.

 Pacific Data Hub

The Sorcery Act criminalised the use of sorcery for ‘evil purposes’. It was repealed in 2013 in the wake of several high profile and gruesome killings related to sorcery accusations, because of a widespread perception that the Act could make available a defence in cases involving violence toward suspected sorcerers. In addition to repealing the Act, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill introduced a penal measure extending the death penalty to sorcery-related murders.

 Pacific Data Hub

This paper draws explicit links between witchcraft and sorcery practices and beliefs in Melanesia, and poor development outcomes. It notes four distinct categories of impact:

- The prevalence of these beliefs and practices mean that many are unwilling to engage fully in the cash economy or to exploit their particular skills or opportunities to the maximum, so as to avoid becoming a target of an attack by a sorcerer or witch motivated by envy.

 Pacific Data Hub

This paper reports that in Tanah Papua (the western
half of the island of New Guinea, currently
comprising the Indonesian provinces of Papua and
West Papua), there was an HIV prevalence of 2.3% of survey participants, ranging from 0.6% in easily accessible coastal areas to 3% in the highlands. This makes the estimated HIV prevalence in Tanah Papua the second highest in the world outside Africa.

 Pacific Data Hub

Numerous studies show obvious links between alcohol abuse and violence in Melanesia. In Papua New Guinea, alcohol is incorporated into sociality involving gift exchange and distribution practices associated with the ‘big man’ culture.

 Pacific Data Hub

The 2015 Bougainville election saw a record number of women candidates, and a record number of women were elected. While one in three open constituencies had at least one woman candidate, overall the results for most women in the open seats were disappointing.

This paper reports on an in-depth study of women candidates in the 2015 Bougainville election: their profiles, motivations and campaign strategies. It analyses the impacts of three issues that emerged as common themes in discussions around women’s participation in political decision making in Bougainville:

 Pacific Data Hub

For this research, 12 young Bougainvillean women were trained in research methods. Six teams of two women then undertook research in six districts, covering the three regions of Bougainville (North, Central and South). The teams conducted 52 individual interviews and 49 group discussions. Field researchers participated in an initial analysis workshop and the lead researcher was mentored as a co-author of the research report.

 Pacific Data Hub

Samoan women have achieved approximate equality to men in most modern spheres of government and the economy, but have never succeeded in winning more than five seats in the 49-seat parliament. Samoa has been among the countries ranked lowest in the world for women’s representation in parliament: in 2015 it ranked 128 out of 140 countries.

This comprehensive research consisted of:

- A nationwide survey of women’s participation in political and economic village-based organisations, covering all villages and sub-villages in Samoa.

 Pacific Data Hub

Papuan perspectives on family planning have historically emphasised political concerns that reflect the tensions between the Indonesian state and indigenous rights – Papuans have questioned both the need for them to limit their population size and the propriety of the state to intervene in their reproductive matters. Family planning in Indonesia is said to have stagnated, and rates of contraceptive use in Tanah Papua (the western half of the island of New Guinea, currently comprising the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua) are considerably lower than the Indonesian average.

 Pacific Data Hub

This research shows that the young women who are part of the Young Women's Parliamentary Group are working to advance women’s participation and leadership in a range of ways in Solomon Islands. They are not exclusively or even primarily focused on increasing women’s representation within the National Parliament. The young women’s intuition that they can achieve more outside or on the edge of the political realm than within it, provides an interesting perspective on how formal politics is viewed by young women in Pacific nations.

 Pacific Data Hub

The issue of sorcery and witchcraft-related accusations and violence in Papua New Guinea is receiving increasing attention domestically and internationally. A growing body of literature is also focusing on the issue, providing non-government organisations, donor agencies, and the Papua New Guinea government with an evidence base for addressing the problem in locally appropriate ways. Little of the literature, however, deliberates upon the perpetrators of these violent attacks.

 Pacific Data Hub

The production and consumption of home-brew in the highlands is adding a dangerous ingredient to already volatile ethnic, gendered, and political conditions. While scholars have typically viewed alcohol consumption in the Pacific in the context of social status, increased cashflow, and gendered desires, the situation in West Papua alerts us to other issues: binge-drinking seems more related to poverty than to increased wealth; reflects exclusion from, rather than inclusion in, emerging economies; and is linked to indigenous ‘stress’, but rarely prestige.

 Pacific Data Hub

This short paper reports on planned research in Fiji, the first country in the Pacific to pilot a measure of poverty at an individual level from a gender perspective.

 Pacific Data Hub

In 2013, widespread publicity given to the deaths of two women accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea drew international and national attention to the problem of sorcery and witchcraft accusation–related violence. In the face of mounting pressure to take action, including the national haus krai protest calling for an end to violence against women, the government responded by repealing the Sorcery Act 1971 and creating a new provision in the Criminal Code Act 1974 (Chapter 262).

 Pacific Data Hub

This short paper reflects on the experiences of 38 young, educated women in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It finds that:

- Young women in Melanesia are subject to intimate forms of control. However educated and able they may be, family members continue to exert or seek to exert control over their behaviour and choices.

 Pacific Data Hub

The link between women’s economic empowerment and the elimination of violence is pertinent in Papua New Guinea. Significant and persistent gender disparities limit the capacity of all Papua New Guineans to benefit from the country’s wealth of natural and human resources. Highlighting the costs of not supporting women, including those who are living with violence and those who are prevented from progressing in their careers, this short paper confirms the potentially transformative possibilities of gender-sensitive and affirmative action policies within the formal employment sector.

 Pacific Data Hub

This short paper draws on the views shared by security guards who participated in discussion groups as part of a larger research project that explores how men interpret and respond to primary prevention messaging addressing HIV and violence against women.

 Pacific Data Hub

This short paper draws on narratives from communities who participated in research in Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The findings suggest that strong gender norms may constrain women’s agency and their ability to be economically independent.