Too many ways out for sorcerers

THERE are too many loopholes in the law to hold glasman and glasmeri accountable for perpetrating violence, United Nations (UN) resident coordinator Dirk Wagener says.
“The legal system needs to be improved and the UN has been supporting the police Family and Sexual Violence Unit with better case management systems, speeding up the process for victims to help them get temporary protection orders against their perpetrators,” he added.
Wagener said violence against women and girls was not part of the Melanesian culture but it had become a serious problem.
“Sorcery accusation related-violence (Sarv) has been a social problem the past 15 to 20 years. It needs to be looked into seriously and that perpetrators must start to be prosecuted to stop the violence,” he added.
He recalled his first posting in the country in 2002 as a junior professional officer with the UN and how there were not as many sorcery accusation cases reported.
“After consultations with a Southern Highlands church group, I am told that Sarv has become a recent issue.
“I think it is one of those topics that should be factored into schools and homes.
“When children learn what is right (and humane), they grow up to be caring and responsible adults.
Wagener believed that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) was a huge stigma because people deemed it as an internal family matter so looked away.