16 Days : Nowhere Safe to Go

Josephine’s partner beat her and her stepsons 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 so she could have his child.
In 2007, Josephine (not her real name) fell pregnant. She left her stepsons and her partner, seeking shelter with her parents. She was HIV-positive. After her baby was born, Josephine’s family discovered her HIV-status. Since then, 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 from a lack of resources. The situation is even worse outside the capital. There is an urgent need for more shelters for women fleeing violence in Papua New Guinea. Until then, Josephine will suffer the daily brutality meted out by her family members because she has nowhere safe to go.

DO SOMETHING!

PLEASE SIGN AND SEND THIS POSTCARD TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA, URGING HIM TO PROVIDE MORE SHELTERS FOR WOMEN SUFFERING FROM VIOLENCE IN THE HOME.

PNG_postcard action

OR sign action online

Download, print, sign and send this postcard action calling for more shelters for women fleeing domestic violence in Papua New Guinea
Women suffering from violence in the home in Papua New Guinea do not have protection because there are too few shelters available. The few shelters that exist are by and large run without government assistance, and they have to rely on donors’ funding or international NGOs for resources. The severe lack of shelters for women in Papua New Guinea is a prime example of the government’s chronic inaction and failure to meet its obligations to protect women’s human rights in the country.

Call for action:
There is an urgent need for more shelters for women fleeing violence in Papua New Guinea. We can support the work of local activists who provide shelter support to women suffering from domestic violence by calling on the Papua New Guinean government to:

• Set up at least four new shelters across the country before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2010 and expand funding for existing private shelters;

• Equip these shelters with a 24-hour hotline and counselling services.