Invest More Into Male Empowerment to Stop Family Violence
- Target:
- Papua New Guinea Government
- Region:
- Papua New Guinea
- Website:
- www.ailaconsultingpng.com
Papua New Guinea has been experiencing a Family Violence epidemic for many years and with continuing violence in PNG throughout 2013, it shows no sign of easing - this is extremely concerning to all.
After AILA Consulting Ltd (ACL) began focusing on empowering men in their "1,000 Strong - Men Against Family Violence" workshops, it has become apparent that the PNG Government and it's partners such as AusAid and other institutions, are focused predominantly on empowering women to end the cycle of abuse.
Our research and discussions directly with Government and AusAid have revealed that most programs that are receiving funding are targeted to "respond" to Family Violence i.e. there is a focus on safe houses, police responses and other areas "after" the violence has occurred.
We recognise this approach as being absolutely necessary, however we noted that i) there is currently no measurement of the effectiveness of these combined programs that are run "after" the violence occurs, and ii) there is minimal investment into empowering men so that they do not reoffend or offend in the first place.
Without any criticism of the institutions involved in existing programs - these two points are very concerning to say the least.
We believe that by making men accountable through empowering them and showing them the beneficial outcomes of positive leadership, they will not commit Family Violence in the first instance.
Further, we understand that the Melanesian society is a complex society where Western norms do not necessarily apply - men are typically viewed upon as the heads of their families. As such, by empowering the head of the family, religious, business and community institutions, will provide benefits that extend beyond the family.
It is time a different approach is taken to address the issue of Family Violence. Within a PNG context:
i) Men's challenges must be recognised from an objective point of view;
ii) Men's empowerment must be sought through programs delivered by PNG professionals in this space;
iii) the PNG government must invest into this area;
iv) all initiatives (for men & women) must be measured to understand the effectiveness of these programs.
We, the undersigned, recognise that the approach toward ending Family Violence in Papua New Guinea:
i) has not been effective to date;
ii) has not been, and is not being measured, at this time;
iii) has not considered the mental health, challenges and point of view of males;
iv) has not considered true empowerment programs for PNG males,
Therefore, we call upon the Papua New Guinea Government to commit significant investment into nationwide programs that will heal and empower male mindsets, so that they do not commit Family Violence in the first place, and can lead their children and families as true leaders.
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The Invest More Into Male Empowerment to Stop Family Violence petition to Papua New Guinea Government was written by 1,000 Strong - Men Against Family Violence and is in the category Gender Rights and Issues at GoPetition.