Aussie student calls for proper dialogue to tackle gender violence

VIOLENCE services in East New Britain need proper coordination, a presentation by Australian PhD student Stephanie Lusby highlighted last week.
Local participants who attended the presentation said there was no proper coordination by stakeholders, including the provincial administration.
They said it was important for major stakeholders to coordinate violence services effectively to empower people in the province to work as a team in addressing these  pressing gender issues.
According to Lusby’s findings, cultural taboos in the province had delayed the need to address gender violence.
The East New Britain family and sexual violence action committee coordinator Ruby Matane also revealed that many victims of violence in the province were students.
“There are many victims of violence in schools; those in rural areas such as Pomio district and remote areas of Gazelle and Rabaul districts are mostly affected. They have nowhere to run,” she said.
Matane added that the number of victims of violence in schools was growing.
She said it was an outstanding issue because it had not been properly addressed, and was again calling on the ENB provincial administration to work closely with other stakeholders to deliver for them.
In her findings, Lusby said it was encouraging to find out that there were male participants in the fight against gender violence in the province.