PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea Post-Courier/PINA) — Hundreds of women were raped, bashed and sexually harassed during the 10-year Bougainville secessionist war, a women’s group said.
They are now battling the social stigma of those experiences, Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency Executive Director Helen Hakena said.
Hakena’s group has 10 counselors and 70 volunteers working in a rehabilitation program that has reached about 200 communities and schools.
She said they were still carrying out a full study on the island. But it was slow because of financial difficulties and the lack of support from the provincial government and its authorities.
She said, however, that despite little help from the provincial government and other agencies, their commitment to help the women of Bougainville was strong.
She said that the money that former militia forces “are crying over” should really be given and used on those women who are suffering.
“Babies have been strangled because their mothers were raped, hundreds more are living unwanted by relatives and others because of the situation,” Hakena said.
“It was frustration that caused all this.
“We understand also that during the war, both sides tried to humiliate, bash and kill whenever they came across each other.”
She said many unwanted babies are also now going through the shame of “how they came about to be.”
Another effect of this social disaster was that the men involved in many births had often used false names.
This made it very difficult for women on the island to claim child maintenance.
The agency’s records compiled in the period February to December last year confirmed 148 women were raped, 349 were bashed and 146 were sexually molested. A further 56 cases of child abuse were reported.
But the agency believes the real numbers are far higher and will be revealed as it work continues.
