Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the report by Amnesty International, Papua New Guinea: Violence against women: Not inevitable, never acceptable, which reports that:

(i)

violence against women is endemic in Papua New Guinea, affecting the majority of women and girls in some parts of the country,

(ii)

healthcare, counselling services, emergency accommodation and other forms of support for survivors of gender-based violence are insufficiently available outside the capital Port Moresby, as is access to legal advice and formal justice processes, and

(iii)

current harmful practices are common throughout society and contribute to high levels of violence against women;

(b)

acknowledges that gender-based violence in Papua New Guinea curtails women’s freedom of movement and in turn limits women’s access to education and employment and their ability to participate freely in public life, as well as contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea; and

(c)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

urge the Government of Papua New Guinea to resource the Papua New Guinea Ombudsman Commission to enable it to fulfil its role of promoting human rights in Papua New Guinea, and

(ii)

encourage the Government of Papua New Guinea to strengthen its support and increase resources for programs that will improve the implementation of Papua New Guinea laws that recognise violence against women as criminal offences.

Question agreed to.