Community Looking After Women 2012 to 2016 Komuniti Lukautim Ol Meri (KLOM) Community Looking After Women

2012 TO 2016 Komuniti Lukautim Ol Meri (KLOM) Community looking after women 2012 TO 2016 Komuniti Lukautim Ol Meri (KLOM) Community looking after women KLOM is changing the negative gender norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls in Papua New Guinea Many communities in Papua New Guinea struggle with violence against women and girls. 54.5% of women in Western Highlands province and 47.1% of women in West Sepik Province reported being raped by a husband or regular partner in the Family Well-Being Study. Since 2012, FHI 360’s KLOM project has focused on addressing the root causes of this violence in the Western Highlands and West Sepik provinces of the country. Through a holistic approach grounded in a social-ecological model, KLOM takes decisive action at the individual, community, institutional and societal levels to address entrenched negative gender norms and change the attitudes and behaviors that allow violence to continue. KLOM’s interventions align with Objective give women tools they need to generate their 3 of the Pacifc Women Shaping Pacifc own livelihood. Development PNG Country Plan, “to strengthen the national response to violence KLOM interventions are yielding results, and against women and provide expanded support following are 10 stories from Mount Hagen to services.” and Vanimo, both communities in PNG, that testify to the ongoing transformative changes KLOM is achieving this by empowering in men’s attitudes and to women’s newly- community mobilizers, who: (1) work to gained strengths. Where there was once reduce community tolerance of violence very high risk of violence against women against women and girls in a way that and girls, this project is creating a safe and increases community ownership of the equitable environment where all members of project; (2) work to increase access for the community, including men, respect the survivors of sexual and physical violence to human rights of women and respect the rule appropriate and timely services; and (3) work of law regarding women’s right to freedom of to build self-esteem and self-confdence movement, equal access to health services, of women and girls who have experienced equal access to employment and a life free of or who are vulnerable to violence through fear. knowledge, education and interventions that “A recent survey conducted by our Constitutional and Law Reform Commission concluded that nearly two-thirds of Papua New Guinea’s married women sufer violence inficted by their husbands or partners. The Government of Papua New Guinea acknowledges that violence against women and girls in the country is a serious cross-cutting development issue and human rights concern that must not be tolerated any more. We are therefore committed to combat gender-based violence and also entrench gender equality and empowerment in the country.” -H.E. Mr. Robert G. Aisi, Permanent Representative of PNG to the UN, addressing the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York March 11th, 2013 Success Story How an illiterate woman in a polygamous marriage transformed a whole community MT. HAGEN The Highlands region of Papua New Guinea is known for polygamy, a long- 1 held practice in this remote area. Livelihoods here are scant and most people make a living growing vegetables. Family structures tend to be extended and traditional. Evidence also shows that women in these polygamous marriages are at a higher risk of being physically abused by their husbands than are those in monogamous marriages. Having multiple wives in the same household causes a great deal of jealousy among the competing wives and this jealousy feeds into violence that can be exceptionally destructive for the family. Kinzibi village refects the problem. In “My husband was a drunk,” Karen recalls. the past there have been extremely high numbers of rape cases and high levels Since October 2012, the Komuniti of violence against women and girls Lukautim Ol Meri (KLOM) project (VAWG) in Kinzibi, with many instances (“Community Looking after Women of women in polygamous marriages and Girls), implemented by FHI 360 and slashing the legs or breaking the limbs of funded by the Australian Department rival wives in the same family. of Foreign Afairs and Trade (DFAT), has been working with communities Living in this community is Serah Tei, an in the Western Highlands and West illiterate mother of two children, who is Sepik provinces of PNG to reduce the one of four wives of the local community level of violence against women and counselor, a leader in the village! Serah girls and support survivors of gender- was no stranger to this violence. based violence (GBV). KLOM has been working with community mobilizers, “There used to be a lot of confict in my who are selected by the community to family,” she says. “I have experienced help educate and raise awareness about both physical and psychological abuse at GBV and to work toward attitude and the hands of my husband and the other behavior change. The community is wives. I was not happy with the new involved in the selection process to build additions but I had no choice. Life was trust and ownership of the interventions. really hard.” When Serah frst learned about The behavior is handed down from messages given out by KLOM on gender father to son too. Serah’s daughter-in- equality and GBV, it struck a nerve with law, Karen, also experienced violence at her. It challenged her to change her own the hands of her husband, Serah’s son. thinking about the normalization of He too wanted to take an additional violence within polygamous marriages. wife, saying like the other young men, She sought to volunteer as a community ‘this is what my father did and what his mobilizer: she was the ideal candidate. father did.’ There was only one problem, the selection criteria for a volunteer was they had a complex message to get an individual who had, at minimum, across, that polygamy is not acceptable completed the eighth grade, because the and ultimately, to stop violence, stop work required volunteers who could read polygamous marriages. and write. Serah was illiterate. The knowledge that Serah has learned She was not alone, however. The KLOM has now had a positive impact on her project team reviewed the selections son’s family too. for community mobilizer and noticed that other volunteers were illiterate “Serah would visit us at home to inform too. So rather than reject these willing about her learnings and she gave me volunteers who had valuable personal leafets to read,” Karen says. “We learned experience at the receiving end of and started to change, and [my husband] VAWG, they decided to take up the stopped drinking and being violent to me. challenge and develop the skills of these The whole family has visibly changed.” candidates. KLOM modifed its training tools to include picture cards as a tool. Karen and her husband are now members of the community action group Serah began attending trainings ofered as well and they too have participated by FHI 360. Among the skills she learned in community trainings organized by was basic communication so she could FHI 360, which boosted their own express herself to her husband and the knowledge gained from their sessions other wives about what was wrong. with Serah. They have also attended She took this new knowledge, along economic enterprise trainings conducted with leafets to be used as aids for by FHI 360 in partnership with ANZ interventions, home and shared this all Bank, on savings, called MoneyMinded. with her family. The other wives listened, and her husband, Alphonse, took on “We now have money to build a board the information that she shared. permanent house,” she says. Now, with support from Alphonse and In just under four years, the work done the rest of her family, Serah was sharing by KLOM community mobilizers has messages on prevention of violence had a profound impact in Kinzibi. In a against women in the village. As a community where polygamy was once family, they started to hold community the norm, now the mobilizers report that discussions at the market place, church no one is taking a second wife, which is a and other gatherings to speak about considerable change in local values and violence and the negative impacts of a great example of how the community polygamy. They spoke openly about has worked together to bring about a the challenges that they had faced as a positive transformation. family and demonstrated the changes that can occur when there is no family violence. Granted, being still polygamous “Now in our community awareness is Alphonse now says, “It hurts me to much better,” Serah says. “Men just have discover the pain that I was causing my one wife. They aren’t drinking home family by having more than one wife. brew as much, or smoking marijuana, Through what Serah told me, I could see or pulling women into the bush. People that this was at the root of the problems had the wrong thinking about what is in our family. I’m now telling my people acceptable and tolerated as a norm. and no one is taking a second wife.” Now we talk about what’s the right way. Now things are normal. There is no more “Serah is a powerful woman.” violence and we are living peacefully.” Success Story Mediation rather than retaliation MT. HAGEN In Papua New Guinea’s Western Highlands, traditions run deep and cultural 2 beliefs are strongly ingrained, particularly the belief that men are above women. This is a remote area where most people make a scant living growing vegetables.

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