Male victims also protected

By Gloria Bauai
MALE survivors of violence are also protected by the Family Protection Act 2013 and the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015, says Andrew Zuhukepe, a training coordinator with Femili PNG (FPNG).
FPNG is a non-government organisation (NGO) that helps survivors of family and sexual violence (FSV) and child abuse to seek necessary assistance to minimise FSV issues in the family and community at large.
The Lae-based NGO, whose core service is case management, formed a training department in 2017, specifically to sensitise people and partners on grounds of FSV-related laws, child abuse-related laws and the various referral pathways in place.
During his time conducting training, Zuhukepe identified many men as silent victims of violence, with their wives the main perpetrators.
Yet, he said, most men don’t know that the same law that protects women and children are also there to protect them.
“It is through our training that locals, especially male youths, know that they are equally recognised under FPA and other related laws,” he said.
With K50,000 funding assistance from Digicel Foundation this year, the NGO has been able to conduct many more sensitisation workshops in Morobe.
One workshop was in the Wampar local level government of Huon Gulf, from July 22–24 where 40 locals, including village court magistrates, youths, community, church leaders and partners (police) attended.
“It’s important to sensitise these groups because they deal directly with survivors,” Zuhukepe said.
“Given the right knowledge, they’ll be able to make informed decisions to benefit survivors in their respective communities.”
He said one main challenge they were working to tackle was the age-old concept that any form of FSV between couples was a private family matter.
Zuhukepe added that training would continue while recognising the Covid-19 measures such as social distancing.