During her first fact-finding mission to Papua New Guinea, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Rashida Manjoo, encouraged the national government to make perpetrators of violence accountable for their actions. Pointing out issues in domestic violence and polygamy, Ms. Manjoo stated that violence against women often begins at home. Other issues the state should address include physical and sexual abuse of women in police custody and physical and sexual abuse of prostituted women.
Ms. Manjoo praised the country for recently establishing Family and Sexual Violence Units within its police system, which is under the supervision of the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee. Ms. Manjoo encouraged the government to provide adequate resources for the new units to function properly, saying, “Currently these units have very little resources and, as awareness and usage of these specialized units increases, there is a growing need for additional staff and resources to be allocated to them.”
Compiled from: Papua New Guinea – Special Rapporteur Violence against Women Calls for Accountability Vs. Impunity for Gender Violence, AWID: Association for Women’s Rights in Development (28 March 2012).