Bride price an excuse to women’s violence

MOST men use bride price as a reason to abuse their wives as sex objects, according to Simbu provincial division of community development adviser Palma Gogla.
“Many men said they bought their wives and considered them as their property and would do anything to them,” Mr Gogla said.
He said in the process, marital rape and forced sex happened against the will of the wives, which they did not  report in fear of being assaulted by their husbands.
“Women do a lot of work in a day, but  men give orders and wives comply because they  know that they were bought at a price.
“Women are not material things like clothes we wore, tore, burnt and changed.
They came from our sides  and are here to be by our sides so lets give them the freedom and make the world a friendly place for them to live,” Mr Golga said.
He pointed this out during a one-day seminar on “Say no to sexual violence against women and girls” in Kundiawa, Simbu province, last Wednesday.
The seminar aimed at gauging views from various stakeholders from the national, provincial and district levels to assess the impact of bride price on sexual violence against women and girls.