Govt will meet with march organisers

ORGANISERS of the march in Port Moresby last Friday, the vigil and the call for government action against gender-based violence, will meet with government officials this month to discuss the issue.
This was confirmed yesterday by Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven who confirmed he had received a petition from the various groups.
“We (have) received a petition from those who organised the forum at the remembrance vigil. My department is looking at the petition (so) that we may accommodate appropriately the suggestions,” he said.
“I want to say that by the end of this month (in a date to be set by the department), we’ll be inviting all the non-government organisations, in particular the organisers of the recent events in response to the latest death.”
He urged everyone involved “in this latest push” to come forward and be part of the discussions.
“In that way we can accommodate this issue into the mainstream government process,” he said.
Meanwhile Steven called for citizens to have respect for each other and unite to combat violence.
“We can only do what we can. While it is our duty in government to respond where we must, every one of us has a duty to respect one another,” he said.
“Our citizens’ responsibilities are to one another, most of all to the ones who are marginalised, those who are weak in our society.
“We really need to come together as a nation and start responding to this social evil of violence against women and our female citizens.”
He also said there would be a review of the process of parole for prisoners convicted of crimes against women.