The most common forms of violence in the family were wife beating, marital rape, physical abuse of children by parents, and the sexual abuse of children by close family members of the household, sexual harassment or rape of baby-sitters and domestic workers and physical assault between co-wives in polygamous marriages.
This information was revealed by Michael McManus, an academic and lecturer and head of communication arts at the Divine Word University in Madang.
McManus also conducted an extensive study on domestic and sexual violence in partnership with the National Research Institute and the Family and Sexual Violence Action Centre in Port Moresby.
He said a PNG Law Reform Commission study revealed that 67 percent of wives in rural areas have been assaulted by their husbands — 56 percent in low-income urban settings and 62 percent in high-income urban settings.
Domestic violence, he said, was deeply cultural and came as a result of cultural changes.
Outside the family, women and children were particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
McManus highlighted that there had been a lot of reports on family and sexual violence and it was not painting a good picture on society.
His paper, titled “Domestic and Sexual Violence, Youth and Media Reporting in PNG” was published last year in university research books.
As part of his recommendations, McManus suggested that there should be workshops conducted for journalists in order to improve the quality, accuracy and sensitivity of the print and broadcast coverage in the country.
This is so that the media could support the broader effort to educate society and combat the problem.
