By Lawrence Boi
Political Science Student
University of Papua New Guinea
9th of May, 2013
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| Fig.1.0 ICS Department_UPNG |
In the contemporary society, social media
has proven to be a reliable source for communication and information. The rate at which social media is adopted is fast becoming epidemic in the everyday
lives of both the rural and urban population of Papua New Guinea. Every now and
then people walking on the streets, at the work place, in schools, doing
businesses, and or elsewhere on leisure purposes are exposed to some form
of social media for communication and information. The importance of social media
is significant in the more modern day lives of Papua New Guineans. The
explosion in the use of social media by Papua New Guineans is changing the way
that they are engaging in politics, business and social activities on the home
front. It is also changing the way that the international community is engaging
with Papua New Guinea.
This paper will illustrate how women in Papua New Guinea utilize Facebook to promote the issue of domestic violence ,especially house wives, to raise concerns on some of
the social issues they face in their daily lives. Facebook has open up the
minds of women to take a stand in addressing and raising concerns on domestic
violence and social issues commonly faced in their daily lives.
There are estimated to be about 30,000
Facebook users in PNG but the number might be much higher. Every day new
Facebook accounts are being created and many Papua New Guineans are able to
communicate using this medium (Yochai 2012). There are 60% male users and 40%
female users in Papua New Guinea out of the total Facebook users.
House-wives have found Facebook very
useful in their lives. With the innovative intervention of Facebook some Papua
New Guinean house-wives have been able to express their consent on political
debates, economical discussions and raise concern on social issues affecting
them. In a male dominated society women are given little or no chance at all to
express their freewill and rights. However, this has turned around to some
certain degree where women are now at liberty to be involved in the political,
social and economy spheres of life through the usage of social media/networking
such as Facebook. Commonly, women feel reluctant to come out to speak of their
consent in public but, contrarily, Facebook enables them to become active
participants in point of discussions on surrounding issues that affects their
livelihood through social networking.
Domestic violence is commonly faced by most
Papua New Guinean house-wives. In 2011, Facebook groups were set up by social
media users in PNG to protest police inaction in certain cases. For example, a
former policeman, Simon Bernard, who had been beating his wife regularly over a
six-year period, was finally brought to justice. A Facebook group created page, ‘Papua New Guineans against domestic violence’, in response to the media
reports and used by Facebook members to express their anger and frustration,
engage in debate on the issue, as well as share domestic violence stories. This
Facebook group, which attracted 5,000 members in its first 48 hours, also
received coverage across blogs in PNG and in international media including the
Huffington Post.
This domestic assault case prompted
civil society groups to use online and social media tools to encourage Papua
New Guineans to sign a petition and to demand action from the local police.
After receiving over 500 emails, the PNG superintendent in charge of the case
appealed for public help in the case and was forced to launch an investigation
into allegations that police had been harboring Simon Bernard. Today this
Facebook group remains a site to discuss domestic violence issues in PNG. It
contains emergency contact information so that victims of domestic violence in
PNG have access to immediate support as well as to health and sexual violence
centers.
New civil rights women’s groups have been
using Facebook to launch their protest against violence on women in Papua New
Guinea. Posted image and pictures of women leading the campaign and other
photos of women being beaten with bruises, scars, cuts and swollen face were
uploaded on Facebook for media attention. Upon the concern raised on Facebook,
Peter O’Niell's government provided their support by posting a link to an article released by the Eoin Blackwell, AAP PNG Correspondence on Facebook. Peter O,
Neil stated that ‘domestic violence is set to become a criminal offence in
PNG’. Through the effort of women campaigning against domestic violence on
Facebook has attracted attentions from the government.
See:
Stop Domestic Violence in Papua New Guinea
