SORCERY

It didn't occur to me that sorcery-related violence is part of the broader context of Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women here in Papua New Guinea (PNG).  People in this country still believe in witchcrafts and black magic.  My husband usually tell me stories of this kind; one of their good local guys, a Papua New Guinean, is no longer frequenting work believed to be inflicted by evil spirits as what the other locals claim.  Whenever my husband tells me stories as such, my judgment would always be, "Baka tinatamad ng pumasok."

But after I've seen this documentary by Vlad Sokhin, a Russian filmmaker and photographer, I felt disturbed, deeply saddened, and extremely enraged; that full-scale foolishness allied to this feature, can possibly cripple the important species of women forever.  I rekindled the question raised by Glyzelle Palomar, the 12-year-old girl in UST Pope's Mass for the Youth, during Pope Francis' visit in the Philippines, who offered question which left the Pontiff speechless.  She said, "Bakit po pumapayag ang Diyos na may ganitong nangyayari?"  The exact same question lingered in my heart as I glimpsed this video.  Question that I don't think, as Pope, will ever present an answer.

I hope you will spare a moment to see this moving video... click this link SORCERY in PAPUA NEW GUINEA



PRESENT:

The situation in Papua New Guinea is slowly changing. Women are raising their voice and can’t be ignored anymore by the local authorities.

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/Podcasts/640x360/2013/20130605_Sorcery_640x360.jpg

In 2013 the PNG Parliament repealed the country’s controversial Sorcery Act that provided protection for the perpetrators accused of sorcery-related violence if they were acting to stop ‘witchcraft’.

The country’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, publicly apologized to all the women of PNG for the high rates of domestic and sexual violence in the country. On September 18, 2013, Papua New Guinea passed the Family Protection Bill that, for the first time in PNG history, criminalizes domestic violence.

At the same time the PNG government reinstated the death penalty, which will apply to a long list of crimes including sorcery-related murder and rape. International organizations like Amnesty International and local human rights defenders believe that it is a step backward.

It is still too early to say whether the new laws will actually protect women or not. In a country where tribal rules and customs still hold sway in many remote communities, it will likely take years to stop injustice. But now, people are aware because local papers and social media are filled almost every day with horrific news about violence against women and girls.  Thank you to our DevCom specialists or those who work for media, in doing their roles as catalysts of change in a nation.



CITATION:
Crying Meri: Violence Against Women in Papua New Guinea is a long-term documentary project by Vlad Sokhin. Vlad started documenting gender-based and sorcery-related violence in PNG in January 2012. In the following three years he worked on his own and in collaboration with several print/online media companies, the United Nations and international NGOs.