Grace and Josephine are two of many women in Papua New Guinea who have told Amnesty International their stories of domestic and sexual violence.

Josephine’s story: no safe haven

Josephine’s husband beat her and her children regularly. He beat them when he got drunk. He beat her when she refused to watch him have sex with his girlfriends. Most of the time he beat her to force her to have unprotected sex with him.

In 2007, Josephine fled her husband, seeking shelter with her parents. She also discovered she had contracted HIV from her husband. Since her family discovered her HIV status, she has received regular beatings from her brothers.

Josephine desperately needs a place to stay. There are only three safe houses in the capital, Port Moresby, where she lives – each run without government assistance, and each struggling under long waiting lists and a lack of resources. The situation is even worse outside the capital.

The PNG Government must urgently provide more safe accommodation for women fleeing violence. Until then, women like Josephine will suffer the daily brutality meted out by family members because they have nowhere else to go.

Grace’s story: no protection

Grace lived in constant fear of making her de facto husband angry. When he was angry, he hit her.

He hit her when there was no food in the house. He hit her for talking to other men. He hit her when her sister’s husband offered to get her a job where he worked. He would go to her office and hit her there.

He would often hit her with iron rods, wire or pieces of timber. Eventually, due to the beatings and humiliation, Grace left her job.

In early 2009, Grace’s mother went to the police and made a complaint against Grace’s partner. When the police went to arrest him, he escaped into the surrounding hills. The police dropped the matter, saying they had more urgent matters to attend to.

When he returned, he continued to physically abuse her. When Grace’s mother went back to the police, they said they did not have a car to use to find him and make an arrest.

Grace went to a shelter run by a church organisation. She received counselling and legal assistance.

The PNG Government must introduce a law that specifically addresses violence in the family. By keeping it hidden away as a private matter, women are left unprotected and perpetrators are free to continue committing abuses.