Gang Rape on the Rise in Papua New Guinea

A gang of security personnel at one of Papua New Guinea’s largest gold mines allegedly brutally beat and raped a woman and left her for dead at one of the mine’s waste dumps. When her husband discovered what happened, he demanded a divorce while she was still bedridden and recovering from her wounds.

Another woman told Human Rights Watch (HRW)  that one of the guards at the Canadian-owned Barrick Gold mine in Porgera – a lush, remote and impoverished part of the country’s highlands – kicked her in the face for resisting a gang rape, shattering her five bottom teeth and three top teeth.

Yet another said she and three other women were raped by 10 security personnel, one of whom forced her to swallow a used condom he had used while raping two other victims.
Their stories and others, recounted by the rights group in a recent report on alleged abuses at the mine over the past three years, make for a harrowing read.

Even worse, after apparently suffering such violence, none of the victims – most were illegal miners trying to make ends meet by searching for scraps of rock that contain gold in the waste dumps – sought help or reported the alleged attacks. 
“One common theme running throughout the alleged gang rapes was how convinced all of the victims were that there was no one they could complain or report the crimes to,” Chris Albin-Lackey, HRW’s senior researcher who interviewed six rape victims, told TrustLaw.

“Not only did they fear retaliation by the police or by the company, but they faced serious consequences in their personal lives if their ordeals became known” due to the social stigma of rape in Porgera, he said.
With a population speaking more than 800 languages and holding a complex blend of traditions and beliefs, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is as rich in natural resources as it is diverse in culture.  Mining of gold, silver and copper and other extractive industries, such as oil and gas, are the country’s main economic drivers – yet the majority of its six million people depend on subsistence agriculture and more than a third lives below the poverty line.

Observers say violence is rife these days – partly fuelled by the availability of firearms – and there are concerns that abuses against women are increasing.
HRW said such abuse and the inability—or unwillingness--of victims to seek help at Barrick’s mine in Porgera reflect the situation across the country.

STEREOTYPE OR PROBLEM OF EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS?

“Violence against women – including widespread gang rape – is commonplace in PNG. In fact it is a problem that has reached epidemic proportions,” Albin-Lackey said.
“This extends to the police, who are often implicated not just in brutal acts of torture, but in gang rape as well,” he said.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, in a visit to PNG last year, documented a pattern of incidents where police appear to arrest women for the sole purpose of extorting sex from them, saying “the women’s vulnerability is exacerbated upon arrest and in police custody.”
Dame Carol Kidu, the only female in the 109-member PNG parliament and cabinet, told TrustLaw in Bangkok that there is “extreme concern” over the rise in gender-based violence.
However, she also cautioned against stereotyping PNG as a nation of abusers and said it is a relatively new phenomenon. 

“Definitely women are more vulnerable now than traditionally,” said Kidu, the Minister for Community Development.  But we haven’t done any comprehensive study into (this) to get the real underlying reasons.”
“It is a manifestation of stresses and strains that our society is going through. It’s a very unpleasant one and unfortunately it’s getting us stereotyped globally,” she said.

PREVENTING FURTHER ABUSE

Tackling sexual violence against women is more complex than just waiting for the judicial system to deal with it, said Kidu, who was responsible for reform of the country’s rape law.
Despite major changes made in March 2002, such as increased penalties for rapists, making rape not specific to a particular gender and removing the marital defense for rape, many women do not feel they can access the legal services, she said.

“It’s still very difficult to go forward (with complaints) because of the fear of repercussions and things like that,” she said. “It’s a complex social problem... and there’s a whole lot more to do including community sensitisation and all sorts of psychosocial things that are involved.”
Kidu added, “These changes didn’t happen rapidly in other societies.”
The issue apparently is being taken seriously at Barrick. Both the company and Papua New Guinea police finally carried out investigations in response to HRW’s allegations and found separate incidents of rape by guards.

In January 2011, it fired six employees for involvement in, or failure to report, alleged incidents of sexual violence. HRW said the police subsequently have arrested some of them.
While the company has committed itself to improve monitoring of its security personnel, HRW said it is equally important to have a channel in place that community members can use to safely complain about alleged abuses.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MARAPE & PAITA ABOUT TO SIGN AWAY PNG GOLD

HIGHLANDS FRAUD F*CKS RUNNING GOVERNMENT AGENCY,,,

Connect PNG Unveiled: A Tale of Ambition, Scandal, and the Quest for Accountability

James Marape's Missteps Openly Exposed at Australian Forum

PNG GOVERNMENT MINISTER IN PORN VIDEO

James Marape: A Complex Political Trajectory

PNC CANDIDATE & FORMER NHC CEO FILMED WIFE HAVING SEX WITH COUSIN IN NHC CEO'S OFFICE