Sexual violence in Lae: impunity and resistance

STEPHEN HOWES & KAMALINI LOKUGE | Development Policy Blog

LAE, ON PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s northern coast, is the country’s second city and industrial hub. It is also the capital of PNG’s largest province, Morobe.

Its main government hospital, the Angau Hospital, is home to PNG’s most successful Family Support Centre (FSC), which provides medical support and psychosocial care to survivors of family and sexual violence.

Supported by Medecins san Frontieres (MSF) since 2008, in the last five years the FSC has provided care to over 11,500 patients.

Many of those cases involve women being beaten or knifed. But many are also cases of sexual violence. In 2010, the Centre attended to 530 survivors of sexual violence. Of these, 338 were adults (above 16) and the other 192 were children. Of the 338 adult cases, 322 were cases of rape. Of the 192 child cases, 149 were of rape.

These are, by any standards, depressingly high levels of reported sexual violence and rape. But our interest is in how many of these cases make it through the legal system and result in convictions.

In 2012, there were only eight prosecutions of cases in the Lae National Court involving sexual offences, seven where the victim was a child, and one where the victim was a woman.

The single case where the victim was a woman did result in a conviction. It was a case in which the accused pleaded guilty. For the other seven cases, all involving children, three did not proceed to trial. The other four resulted in convictions: two as a result of trials, two as a result of guilty pleas.

The average time from committal to finalisation of the case was 24 months. So these 2012 cases related by and large to 2010 cases.

By putting these two data sources – prosecutions from 2012 and sexual violence cases from 2010 – together we can estimate the probability of a sexual violence case in Morobe leading to a National Court conviction where the victim is an adult. That estimate is 1:338.

The actual probability is even lower because not all victims of sexual violence in Lae or Morobe, the region from which the Lae National Court draws it cases, would visit the FSC.

The probability for a sexual violence case involving a child leading to a National Court conviction, similarly estimated, is better, but still very low at 4:192.

1:338 and 4:192 are shocking statistics. It indicates that sexual violence, especially against adults, can be committed in Lae with impunity.

Some might argue that it is not the proportion of perpetrators who are punished but the proportion of survivors who are protected which is the relevant statistic. But the former is a very good proxy for the latter: the lack of punishment for perpetrators is a clear indicator of the lack of protection and leverage available to survivors.

Some also mention that though almost none of these crimes find their way to the National Court system, many are likely to be addressed at the level of village courts or by informal community responses. It is true that village courts are now recognised as part of the PNG legal system and have been authorised to settle certain cases through compensatory settlements.

However, this does not include cases such as sexual assault, rape or child sexual abuse which, according to PNG law, are crimes that must be referred to the National Courts. And even if the parties involved may sometimes prefer compensatory settlement of such cases at the village court or community level, this can hardly be considered a satisfactory outcome.

Others might argue that these statistics are simply products of PNG’s weak law and justice system in general. Perhaps. However, it is worth noting that the eight sexual violence cases heard in Lae in 2012 were eight out of 84 criminal cases. Is sexual violence only 10% of all crime in PNG? The incredibly low number of adult sexual violence trials (one in 2012) suggests that the rape of a woman is not in fact seen as a crime.

PNG is not the only country which struggles to translate reported cases of sexual violence into convictions. To the contrary, the problem is an international one, and a focus for campaigners worldwide (see this example from Delhi).

Understanding why the rate is so low in Lae, and no doubt more broadly in PNG, is an important first step. While more research is needed to understand why and where the chain of justice is broken, one clear problem is the unsatisfactory efforts of the police.

We were in Lae last month, and, while we were privileged to meet some dedicated policewomen, we also saw first-hand the inadequacy of police efforts to arrest perpetrators.

We can also see this in the data, though it is only available for 2009 not 2010. In 2009, almost two-thirds of the 360 sexual violence cases that came to the FSC were referred there by the police, or were referred by the FSC to the police. Clearly, the police take effective action in relation to only a very few of the cases which come to them.

But during our week in Lae we also saw the extraordinary efforts of a small but growing network of people and organisations who attempt to render the vital services which survivors require, including medical care, counselling, protection and prosecution.

Not only FSC staff, but a number of police and legal officers, and government, non-government and private-sector community workers, organisations and leaders provide critical services to survivors, and advocate and lobby on their behalf. Heroes in a desperate situation, they deserve our support and reinforcement.

The Lae Angau Hospital Family Support Centre works because of a relentless focus on the provision of essential medical services. The same approach now needs to be taken to providing the other needs which survivors of family-based violence have, including for protection and justice.

We also should recognise the efforts those on the ground are already making to assist victims, despite their limited and stretched resources. This is the foundation on which accountability to the survivors of family and sexual violence must and can be built, in Lae and throughout PNG.

We would like to thank MSF and the Office of the Public Prosecutor for providing us with the data used in this article. The views expressed in this article are the strictly the personal views of the authors, and should not be taken to represent the views of any organisation they are affiliated with.

Just a few days after our visit to Lae, an Angau Hospital nurse was raped. The entire hospital went out on strike, and one of the perpetrators was arrested.

Stephen Howes is the Director of the Development Policy Centre. Kamalini Lokuge is a Fellow at the ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and  Population Health and a Research Associate of the Development Policy Centre. She is also research development advisor to MSF-UK

Comments

[Nigel Gagau]

I think these people are doing the best to save our people. It is not a msstake but for the good of us.

This is what we should do and also it is the best hospital out of every other in the country I should say.

Keep up the good work for your good testimony.

[Desmond Kuluwah]

True indeed. I still can recall a case back in my village about a father raping his very own blood daughter and later asked by the village court to pay compensation to the wife brothers.

Perpetrators nowadays are exposed to western culture like movies, magazines and especilly pornographic materials, that's why the rate of sexual assualt, rape or child abuse has increased.

On the other hand, there is a lack of punishment for perpetrators.

Let's respect our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives.

[Jocabeth Yuasi]

Sexual violence in this country is increasing. Lae has a high rate because there are far too many vagrants living in the settlements in and around the city.

Men who commit sexual violence are sick in the head and don't have any respect for females. Do they have mothers,sisters and aunts? I wonder how they feel?

The government should come up with a new law to punish these animals who commit rape and sexual violence.They dont deserve to live, they should be hanged. Or better, let the victim torture them.

It is sad to hear such things .Females are not respected and free to move around.

[Paul Oates]

PNG is not alone in trying to come to grips with this sort of crime. An important issue is one of understanding the origins of why it happens and the perspective of those who are committing the crime.

It reminds me of the report on an habitual thief who became absolutely livid when his own house was broken into and many of his own items stolen or destroyed.

He couldn’t see the trail of heartache and sorrow he had left behind himself but could only focus on how indignant he alone felt.

Would the husbands, fathers, brothers of the victims be prepared to act against those who break the law before they themselves were personally affected and aggrieved? The buck has to stop somewhere.

The disruption of village family life and the dysfunctional metropolitan existence, where those who are either under employed or unemployed is a potential breeding ground for all sorts of social problems.

Where the previous community constraints of the village are now either non-existent or weak, the efforts of those few who are trying to help the victims and potential victims are often quickly ameliorated.

The essence of the issue is to look above the forest instead of trying to continually trip over the fallen trees. No government, public body or leader seems to be prepared to do this as they know they will instantly become bogged down in human emotions and issues of out of control hormones.

It seems like everyone has a strong, reactive view of how to combat crimes against women after it happens but no one wants to be the first to be proactive and confront the main reasons behind it?

Until enough people get together and start thinking holistically about this issue, nothing much will change.

The metropolitan gender imbalance in PNG, ephemeral community values and controls often due to mixed cultural backgrounds and loyalties and an under-funded law enforcement service clearly aren’t helping but only exacerbating what is a common, underlying problem not just peculiar to PNG.

Unfortunately, no political or community leader apparently wants to be the first to examine these issues in any detail.

[Beatrice Yokondo]

I wonder what goes through the heads of such ill-mannered males when they rape and commit sexual violence? Do they ever feel ashamed? I for one do not understand what is happening to our communities and the country.

The numbers are very high in sexual violence and yet there is unsatisfactory efforts by the police. Addressing child abuse and sexaul assults at the village is not good enough.

Being paid compensation, that is just absurd! Money cannot erase the painfull memory and scar. Such people belong in prison.

Wonder what the world would be like if there were no women and girls? Wonder what the men are going to be like? Only a thought.

[Joyce Bagi]

Lae city is leading with these crimes due to increased settlement settlers migrating across the country.Most of these rape cases I believed are happening outside of the city and few are within the city.How can we reduce the cases if our Law makers turn a blind eye on this issues.These a major crime cases we are talking about,the accused must be dealt with quickly and orderly.
Great concern lies on our women and girls.This years team for the IWD is'Gender Collaboration&Partnership'.How can we apply this if our male counter parts are still blind folded.Its time now all must rise Women in the Parliment and Law authority to make are difference for the better tommorow for all women,by enforcing though charges againts sexual violence and rape cases.

[Nevegapa Abeya Sam]

Sexual violence in the country is increasing rapidly now a days. I am tired of reading the article regarding the sexual violence and rape case in our daily news papers. It is not heppening only in PNG but across the globe and its becoming a global issue now. The news about the raping of the young Indian girl in Delhi. Alot of rape cases and sexual violences are increasing in our towns and cities.

I am concerned about our mothers, sisters, our daughters and even our wives as well. Their lives are at risk now. They connot move freely in towns or streets now a days. They are scared of being raped or harashed. We need to respect the ladies. We need to respect their rights of freedom of movement. Because the constitution of PNG said, every person has the right to freedom of movement. Therefore, i appeal to all the Papua New Guinean, especially the males. Let us all respect the rights of the ladies and regarded them as special.