WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

MARGARET’S husband has used knives, stones, metal and bottles to inflict pain. He has threatened to find boys to pack rape her and told her often that he would kill her. “You see this stone? It is nice and hard and round. If I put it on your head you are dead. When we are home I will really kill you.”

Once, Margaret’s husband tried to punch her in the face, missed and hit their one-month-old baby Sammy instead, knocking him unconscious. While Margaret and Sammy’s story is extreme, sadly it is representative.

media_camera Margaret’s husband used to pick her baby up and hit her with him. He would try to punch her in the face when she was breastfeeding. All she wants is to live quietly with her baby and not have him injured by his father. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/ChildFund Australia/Haus Ruth

Sexual violence is so common in Papua New Guinea that rapists from ‘raskol’ gangs are happy to proudly pose for photos and boast about what they’ve done.

The statistics are horrifying. Two thirds of women are subjected to some kind of physical or sexual violence. Doctors Without Borders have reported that in Papua New Guinea they are dealing with levels of gender violence normally experienced in war zones.

Sadly, the violence doesn’t just extend to women, with children frequently in danger. Children younger than 16 account for half the number of people seeking medical help after being raped. One in four is younger than twelve; one in ten is under eight years old.

media_camera Richard Bal shows off the disfigured ear of his wife, Agita. In December 2010, after coming home drunk, Richard took a bush-knife and cut off half of Agita's left ear. He spent one night in the police station and was released the next morning due to 'insufficient evidence'. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures

For Wendy, daddy is a ‘dangerous man’. She has stood and watched in horror as he has whipped and stabbed her mother Kay across her legs and back. Kay’s husband has hit her with a hammer, stabbed her feet with kitchen knives, cut her with bush knives and whipped her with extension cords. Once he belted her from 10pm until Kay escaped at 5am. She hid in the bush before running to the police station.

“Wendy just stands there and stares at us and cries and cries,” says Kay. “It is like a nightmare to her. In the night she doesn’t sleep properly, she’s always calling my name.”

Terrifyingly, Wendy experienced her father’s fury first hand at age five. Kay recalls the ordeal, which resulted in a split lip and injured jaw.

“[He] got the little girl, bashed her up and then lifted her up, face down, and threw her on the concrete.”

For Kay, seeing her children’s life in danger brought her to Haus Ruth, a women’s refuge in Port Moresby. Her husband continued to linger outside the refuge’s security gates and make threats, but Kay refused to give up on the hope of freedom for her family, saying, “I just want to live somewhere where he won’t bother me and the children again.”

media_camera Helen was attacked by a stranger who bit her bottom lip off. She is now fighting for women’s rights in Papua New Guinea and is part of Vlad Sokhin’s Crying Meri exhibition. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/ChildFund Australia

media_camera A doctor at an antenatal clinic in Port Moresby examines a 14-year-old girl, who was raped by a 40-year-old lawyer. The victim said that the man was a friend of her family so she didn't suspect anything when he offered her a lift. But he drove the girl to his house, raped her and then left her on the road. The girl's father brought his daughter to the hospital but wasn't sure if he wanted to sue the rapist. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures

For women and children seeking help, there are resources available but they are limited. Shelters and refuge centres exist but there are not nearly enough. Support can be found in church groups and in a positive move, there are now family violence units in some hospitals and police stations.

Two years ago, outrage against gender violence in Papua New Guinea reached fever pitch when Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother of one was accused of sorcery, dragged from her home, tortured, stripped naked, doused in petrol and set alight on a pyre of tyres at a local rubbish dump. Police tried to intervene but were stopped by crowds watching the burning.

Prior to the murder, a young boy in the village had complained of stomach pains and later died. The family, finding no explanation for the senseless tragedy, became suspicious of sorcery and witchcraft, and Kepari Leniata quickly became the target of accusations. Leniata ‘confessed’ to the murder while being tortured by her accusers.

While sorcery related torture and murder in Papua New Guinea was once widely unseen and unheard, cameras on mobile phones have enabled documentation from some of the most remote parts of the country, reaching millions of people across the world.

Many people present at Leniata’s death recorded the gruesome burning, and soon it was covered in the world’s most prominent media outlets — sparking domestic and international debate about the crippling gender violence problems facing the Pacific nation.

media_camera A mother grieves the death of her daughter, 25, who died in the Emergency section of the Port Moresby General Hospital after being raped on the street by members of Raskol gang. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures

For Cassie Rangip, a Papua New Guinean woman living in Brisbane, the story really shocked to the core.

“Seeing those images was a turning point. I couldn’t stand by while such atrocities took place. Mobile technology has allowed us to see very ugly, violent things, in some of the most remote parts of Papua New Guinea. Now the world can gain an insight into what is happening to our women.

“I knew that violence against women is not an uncommon occurrence in Papua New Guinea, but when those images surfaced, I felt compelled to do something. Sadly violence is not just in remote locations, and related to suspected witchcraft. Gender violence is rife throughout the entire country, in homes and on the streets.”

From tragedy, Leniata Legacy was born. Dedicated to fighting gender violence in Papua New Guinea and Australia, a group of Papua New Guinean women are working tirelessly to provide support, resources and education to women and children in need.

In Papua New Guinea, the current popular opinion is that women are inferior. When marrying, men pay a ‘bride price’ to the woman’s family, meaning a new wife is easily seen as another possession. Gangs known as ‘raskols’ promote a culture of rape, violence and intimidation on the streets of larger towns and cities.

media_camera Omsy is an ex-member of the Kips Kaboni gang, with his wife Carol in their house. Omsy was a rapist and thief but left the gang a few years ago to become a bass guitarist. Omsy says that when he quit the gang he also stopped beating his wife. However he keeps his handmade gun to protect his family, as they live in Kaugeri, a dangerous settlement in Port Moresby. Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures

Then there is the problem of witchcraft and sorcery accusations in remote areas, leading to the public torture and persecution of randomly selected women and occasionally, men. The accusations breed from a culture of fear and render victims indefensible against whisperings of witchcraft.

Kepari was a high profile case, and her death has spurred a lot of positive change, but many others continue to be accused, living in fear, and helpless.

ChildFund Australia has an active presence in Papua New Guinea and is working with local organisations and communities to improve the situation.

“Even the most basic information about gender violence is lacking, so we are working hard to ensure that women experiencing violence are equipped to make well informed decisions,” said ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence.

“We are in the process of setting up a national hotline that is staffed by trained local counsellors. It’s a free service for women under threat so they can get basic information about their rights, as well as referral services. There is a long way to go and in some areas there is no victim assistance available. Slowly we are seeing positive change.”

For those within reach of a hospital, understanding what their options are legally puts them in a stronger place.

“To file for a medical report, which is required to process any criminal case, costs 20 kina ($A10) which many women do not have. Without the medical report, a case cannot proceed. Knowing such things helps provide a good fighting chance of getting out of an abusive situation,” said Mr Spence.

media_camera Rose’s husband attacked her with a knife, so she fled and was too scared to come home for two nights. Her husband then abused her baby girl. When she returned and challenged him on the damage done to their baby, her husband said it wouldn’t have happened had she not left for two nights. Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund Australia / Haus Ruth

To understand why such atrocities occur, an understanding of Papua New Guinea certainly helps, and an integral part of that is the Wantok system. The country is a rich tapestry of unique cultures and over 800 languages that have developed due to the remote nature of most tribes. The terrain in large parts of the country is challenging to traverse, with steep highlands resulting in isolated communities.

Wantok means ‘one talk’ and a strong social mechanism called ‘the Wantok system’ promotes a communal culture within the tribes where resources are shared and responsibility is divided between those in the community. It also means that issues within the community are dealt with within the community, rather than through Government enforced laws of the country. For this reason, it is strongly frowned upon for women to turn to police.

A lack of community intervention is a key area for targeted change. Abuse victim Regina was often hit in front of other people. She remembers the humiliation of her husband ripping her dress off and hitting her, naked in front of their home. “People watched. There are a million other women facing the same problem,” she recalled. Neighbours, friends and extended family are often unwilling to meddle in what is seen as private family business. There is also the fear they will be assaulted too.

media_camera Jessica and Molly grieve for their big sister Margaret while sitting on her grave. When Margaret tried to escape her husband he killed her. Jessica says: “He found her and smashed her head on a car. No one stopped him. He belted her too much ... There was blood running from her eyes and nose and mouth when she died.” Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund Australia / Haus Ruth

Companies and communities are working hard to promote change and encourage a gender violence mentality shift. Pacific telecommunications company Digicel aims to break the cycle of violence through focusing on positive behaviour for affirmative action through their ‘Men of Honour’ Award campaign.

“Papua New Guinean men have been vilified for decades, but there are honourable men who are alleviating suffering and preserving human dignity in the roles they play. Through the award, communities are encouraged to look within their communities to identify male role models and positive behaviour and nominate ordinary men who are doing extraordinary things,” said Beatrice Mahuru, CEO of Digicel Foundation PNG.

“These men have a greater ability to mentor and encourage other men to act courageously and take a stand against gender violence. Such initiatives highlight how communities and companies are working hard to make a change in PNG.”

There has been progress tackling this issue within government, although not as quickly as many would like. Last year the Family Protection Bill was passed, criminalising domestic violence and giving power to the police to remove perpetrators from their homes to protect the victim.

For Cassie at Leniata Legacy and many others fighting this omnipresent epidemic, the fight will never end.

“As long as there is gender violence in PNG, we will be working. We’re seeing positive change and communities rallying together, but there is a long way to go.”

media_camera Taina is an elder in his community. He has transformed to a peaceful man from being violent in his younger years. He has come to see that life is better if men and women walk alongside each other as equal partners. Photo: Vlad Sokhin / ChildFund Australia

Join the conversation online by using the hashtag: #stopviolencePNG

Originally published as A place where rapists are proud