This report details data from 6,176 icidents of gender-based or sorcery accussation-related violence collected by seven women’s and human rights defenders’ organisations working across five provinces in Papua New Guinea. These organisations provide safe houses, counselling and crisis support to survivors of violence. The data analysis seeks to understand the type of violence inflicted, who is affected and who are reported as the perpetrators.
Poverty data in Fiji is derived from household income and expenditure data, collected via periodic Household Income and Expenditure Surveys. Given gender inequality within households can be significant, assessing individual poverty by using household data and then assuming all household members have the same access to resources and opportunities is problematic. Household-level measurement also means accurate disaggregation of data is impossible. This makes the work of policy makers and advocates harder, masking differences rather than revealing them so they can be addressed.
To better understand the nature and availability of counselling services for gender-based violence, a survey involving a self-assessment questionnaire was conducted to map counselling service providers across 14 Pacific Island countries. This was followed up with 47 key stakeholder interviews and nine focus group discussions. In-country consultations were also conducted in Fiji and Vanuatu. Fiji was selected because it has a wide range of counselling services and Vanuatu was selected as it provided an opportunity to review a model for delivering services across a dispersed island group.
This volume critically interrogates the relation between gender violence and human rights as Fiji, Papua New Guinea nad Vanuatu and their communities and citizens engage with, appropriate, modify and at times resist human rights principles and their implications for gender violence. It is grounded in extensive anthropological, historical and legal research.
Chapter titles are:
- Villages, Violence and Atonement in Fiji.
- ‘Lost in Translation’: Gender Violence, Human Rights and Women’s Capabilities in Fiji.
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.
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.
This research project was aimed at synthesising and integrating various experiences and perspectives on poverty held both by poor women and men and by professional poverty experts. The project team began with a review of the professional knowledge contained in the vast multidisciplinary literature on gender and poverty, gender and development, and gender-sensitive measures of poverty.
The study unearthed a large amount of information about the delivery of adult literacy programs in rural communities, as well as finding some significant gaps in available information.
There is some incongruity between how adult literacy programs are typically described and perceived in Solomon Islands and the reality on the ground.
There is a wealth of knowledge amongst several key actors in the sector that could be harnessed more effectively to improve the delivery of adult literacy programs.
The Kiribati study shows that violence against women is prevalent:
- More than 2 in 3 (68%) ever-partnered women aged 15–49 reported experiencing physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner.
- 47% of women aged 15–49 who had ever been in a relationship reported experiencing emotional abuse by a partner at least once. Almost 1 in 3 women (30%) experienced emotional abuse in the 12 months prior to the interview.
The Tongan study shows that violence against women is prevalent:
- 79% of Tongan women and girls have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
- 68% of Tongan women and girls are affected by physical violence perpetrated by mainly their fathers or teachers.
- 33% of married or ever partnered women are victims of physical violence.
- 17% of married or ever partnered women are victims of sexual violence.
- 24% of married or ever partnered women are subject to emotional violence.
The Vanuatu study shows that violence against women is prevalent:
- Among women who have ever had an intimate sexual relationship with a partner, 60% experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime; 68% experienced emotional violence; 28% were subjected to several forms of control by their partner, 69% experienced at least one form of coercive control, and most of these were living with physical and sexual violence.
The Samoan study shows that violence against women is prevalent:
- 37.6% of women who have ever been in a relationship are likely to have experienced physical abuse by their partner.
- 18.6% of women are likely to have experienced emotional abuse by their partner.
- 19.6% of women are likely to have experienced sexual abuse by their partner.
- Of women have experienced physical abuse by their partner, 23.8% had been punched, kicked or beaten while they were pregnant.
This report provides findings from a study conducted with men in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea on their use of violence against women. The study questioned 10,000 men in nine sites in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Men were asked about their use and experiences of violence, gendered attitudes and practices, childhood, sexuality, family life and health.
Lessons from the UNFPA’s process of conducting researching violence against women in Kiribati and Solomon Islands included:
- There is overwhelming evidence that the studies in the Solomon Islands and Kiribati were generally been carried out appropriately and effectively.
- There is an overriding sense of achievement, all field workers came back safely and intact, a phenomenal job was done and an enormous amount of data was collected with high response rates and disclosure rates.
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';
Employing an established survey treatment to subtly alter respondents’ perception of their relative economic wellbeing, it was noted that increased feelings of relative poverty make both women and men significantly more likely to support girls’ schooling and women’s paid employment, suggesting that relative economic insecurity can prompt support for women’s economic participation. However, increased feelings of relative poverty may trigger greater intra-household tension.
Each year, businesses and the public sector in Fiji are losing an average of 12.7 workdays per employee due to the responsibilities of working parents. Limited, unregulated and inaccessible childcare options for children aged zero to five result in absenteeism, lateness, low productivity, distraction, exhaustion and stress for working parents.
A report from Femili PNG and the Australian National University (ANU) shows that the issuing of protection orders by the Lae District Court is becoming more efficient. The data, was collected by Femili PNG and analysed by the ANU, covered almost three years from August 2014 to May 2018. The data showed that the average time taken to get an interim protection order (IPO) is 15.9 days. Almost one fifth (18%) were issued on the same day, and around half (51%) were issued within a week.
A report from Femili PNG and the Australian National University (ANU) shows that the issuing of protection orders by the Lae District Court is becoming more efficient. The data, was collected by Femili PNG and analysed by the ANU, covered almost three years from August 2014 to May 2018. The data showed that the average time taken to get an interim protection order (IPO) is 15.9 days. Almost one fifth (18%) were issued on the same day, and around half (51%) were issued within a week.