I am not a racist

By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA

I have been accused of racism by Angels of Change (I know not who this is) and several others who have accused me of being racist simply because I corrected a report by their good friend VLAD SOKHIN who claimed that all PNG men were violent towards their women. I agreed that violence in PNG is a major problem and I abhor violence against women and am trying to address it in my province and country as a leader. However, I am very saddened that a foreign journalist has made a study which is being promoted by the UN which make generalizations that ALL PNG men are violent towards their women. This is insulting to me as a PNG man and it is also insulting to many Papua New Guinean men and women alike. Not all men in PNG are violent towards their women and NOT all men beat their wives as claimed in the report. I was offended by this and said so. I was also offended by many other generalizations which I felt were incorrect and improper. The writer is promoting his image on poor research. This is improper. Stick to facts and do not generalize.

Anyway, I note that Angels of Change and her friends are now attacking me because I am not supposed to make such statements and are claiming that I am racists. How can this be I wonder? I am merely pointing out some incorrect assumptions about my country. Anyway, I am posting my response and the article for the benefit if all." I am intrigued. Angels of Change, how have I been racist for trying to point out a study carried out by VLAD generalized statements claiming that all men in PNG were violent? Here I add the very article by VLAD which I dissected and pointed out was unethical because it made sweeping generalizations that were very akin to colonial views held by colonial administrators. For this I am racist? How is that? Now you are misleading the people who subscribe to this page and anyone else who may read your article will no doubt form the view that I had made racist comments when in fact, I had merely pointed out that VLADs research was flawed by his generalizations. I cannot believe that you and others who deign to be friends of PNG promote such thinking and attack me instead. You can think and do as you please but I do not see the point of claiming every man in PNG is abusive and violent towards their women.

I attach the entire document by VLAD for the convenience of others. After reading the article I was very much disturbed that it was promoting generalizations. I did not in any way make any comments or statements that suggested racism and could be taken as racism in any shape or form. Please read my statements and let me know where I have made a racist comment. Anyway, for the benefit of readers, I will attempt to post them here. Angels of Change, I fail to understand your assertions here. I am NOT attacking SALWAH KIRK but am NOT being understood by her either. Now you have taken sides and are promoting untruths and making outrageous and false statements about me. I am bemused. Here is VLADS article. Papua New Guineans will all agree that violence is very much out of control in our society. Everyone will agree that violence against women in PNG needs to be addressed.

But I do not think everyone will agree with the generalization that VLAD makes in his statements. Am I to remain silent when untruths and generalizations are promoted as if they are fact in PNG by foreign journalists who then use the UN to propel their studies for whatever gain? Must I remain one of the quiet masses and say nothing like a good old Papua New Guinean. I have nothing to apologize for here because your accusations are totally out of context and incorrect. I have many friends who are expatriates and foreigners and they will you that yes, I am a nationalist but I am NOT a racist. Your totally incorrect and false accusations will no doubt trigger all manner of rhetoric and rumour and that is certainly sad to see how negative social media can be but I stand my ground: I am NOT racist. I merely pointed out that VLADS statements are improper and incorrect generalizations. Get the facts right and stop promoting lies. Here is VLADS article that I corrected and am now being labelled a racist for, read and decide for yourselves: BY VLAD SOKHIN Crying Meri: Violence against women in Papua New Guinea

According to the statistics, in Papua New Guinea two thirds of women are constantly exposed to domestic violence and about 50% of women become victims of sexual assaults (in Chimbu and Western Highlands provinces, 97% and 100% respectively of women surveyed said they had been assaulted). Local men don’t respect their meris (“meri” in Pidgin means “woman”), constantly beating them, often using bush knives and axes. While in traditional villages such attitudes toward women can be attributed to tribal culture, today in Port Moresby violence against women shocks modern society.

The main danger comes from the Raskol gangs that rule the settlements in the capital city. Every day most of the dozens of crimes are reported to be against women from Port Moresby slum areas. According to the words of Korugl Peter Umba Moses, one of the leaders of “Dirty Dons 585” Raskol gang, raping women is a “must” for the young members of the gang. In most Papua tribes, when a boy wants to become a man, he should go to enemy’s village and kill a pig. After that, his community will accept him as an adult. In industrial Port Moresby women have replaced pigs. “First young gang member should steal something, money or a car – and he will be admitted to the gang. After that he must prove that his intentions are serious and pass through some kind of “initiation” – rape a woman. And it is better if a boy kills her afterwards, there will be less problems with the police”, says 32 years old Moses, who had raped more than 30 women himself.

Often violence against women in PNG takes savage forms. Sorcery-related brutality is widespread all around the country, but mostly in rural areas of the Highlands region. In case of an unexpected death in a village, its residents accuse a random woman (usually a relative of the dead person) and torture her, forcing to admit that she is a witch. Many of these "punishments" result in the victim’s death. But even if the woman survives, she would be expelled from the community for good. The PNG Government neither has a program of helping victims of sorcery-related violence nor provides any shelter for those women. Participants of such executions usually never get punishment, even in case of the death of their victims.

It is very rare that violence-against-women cases are brought to court. Most assailants are kept in prison cells for a couple of days and then released. The police claim the lack of conviction stems from the fact that victims often fear filing a statement or that many wives take pity on their husbands and insist on the termination of the case.

Tessie Soi, a social worker and the director of the Family Support Center in Port Moresby’s General Hospital, has been fighting for many years for the “non drop policy” in such cases. She says that most women would rather tolerate beating and coerced sex, than be left without the support of men. “The problem is that men start feeling unpunished and continue treating their (even pregnant) wives with a greater cruelty. This often results in a loss of the child or death of a woman. That’s why I insist that once violence has been reported to the police, there is no way back”.

Another reason why perpetrators are not brought to justice is money. In order to report an assaulter to the police, first of all, abused women have to obtain a medical statement, which is not given for free. Also a woman has to buy fuel for the police car, as nowadays police stations do not receive much financial support from the Government due the current political crisis. Fuel costs may be around 40-50 kina (about 20-25 USD, depends of the distance) and in rural areas, where people make 30 kina a month, women cannot afford such expenses. Furthermore there is no guarantee that police will not take a bribe from a landed perpetrator to release him later.

As stated by the Family Support Center’s statistics, more and more violence against women happens in middle class families, where lawyers, policemen or even church pastors strike their wives. PNG men believe, that after they have paid a bride price (local pre-wedding tradition when bride’s parents receive payments from groom's family) they fully possess a woman and treat her the way as they treat a purchased vehicle.

In most cases domestic violence occurs because of alcoholism and jealousy - men in Papua New Guinea often have three or four wives at the same time. Rejected and beaten women are often kicked out of home to the street, where they became easy targets for the Raskol gangs. The "lucky" ones find their way to Port Moresby’s City Mission refugee centre, where they can live up to 3 months and receive support and care from social workers and psychologists. However, the City Mission can shelter only 30 women at the same time. The rest of the abused female population of PNG capital has nowhere to go. Most women in Papua New Guinea continue being victims of abuse, and only a few fight for their rights.

“Previously we had Dame Carol Kidu, the only woman in our Parliament. She was our hope that would change the situation. But she is not going to participate in the upcoming election”, says Shelley Launa, a social worker and a former member of the National Council of Women of PNG. “But even if she would, I don’t think that she could possibly win the election. In our country we have another type of violence: the violence against women during election. We are not allowed by our men to vote for the candidate we support. In many places of the country, especially in Highlands Region where I’m from, men force their wives and adult daughters to support candidates they want. And of course it would never be a woman”.