District forms team to battle gender-based violence

THE Maprik district in East Sepik plans to work together with agencies dealing with gender-based violence and family sexual violence.
It has formed a committee which consists of the police, provincial, district and local level government officers.
District Development Authority chief executive officer Joshua Himina said the committee would be coordinating activities with other authorities.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, gender-based violence is a violation of basic rights which also prevents women from exercising their social, economic and political rights.
It is estimated that in PNG, two in every three women experience some form of violence in their lifetime.
Maprik is one of the districts with the highest reported cases with more than 10 cases reported each day in rural areas.
Maprik police family sexual violence unit officer Debra Giwarkun is a member of the committee chaired by Jacinta Kamblijambi.
Giwarkun thanked MP John Simon for the initiative to form a committee to deal with gender-based violence.