Teach human rights, equality in schools

WOMEN rights issues in the country will not change for a long time.
It is not because Papua New Guinea men hate women, it is an intrinsic part of our culture.
Our ancestors have always viewed women as property and never equal to men.
Things have started to change, but the progress is too slow.
It is like turning around a huge cargo ship the size of Papua New Guinea; it’s going to take time.
While I applaud foreign organisations trying to address this issue by pumping in cash and starting up initiatives and programmes, I am afraid they appear to be band-aid solutions.
They are not addressing the root of the issue.
It is our culture that is to be blamed.
To make matters worse, this part of our culture was given a stamp of approval when Christianity was introduced.
The Bible is full of so many misogynistic verses, it is shocking women still go to church.
Right at the beginning, Eve was created from Adam’s rib bone and then Eve ate the apple so now we are all sinners.
Ask any Papua New Guinean man and there’s a pretty good chance they will tell you that women should be under men, it’s a part of our culture and the Bible also says so.
It is hard to argue with that logic.
I was being sarcastic by the way.
There is no one-off solution to this problem.
One thing I think could be done is to introduce a new curriculum in our education system so the young ones are taught about human rights and gender equality at an early age.
Reason being that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

Lycan DeLux,
9-Mile