BY GABRIEL KATUHO
THE Business Council for Women (BCFW) hosted its annual Forum on Family and Sexual Violence (SFV) in Port Moresby today (Thursday, November 21).
This year’s forum was focused on rising issues of Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV) cases in Papua New Guinea.
SARV has devastating consequences, especially for women and children. The Forum brought together leading experts, advocates, and community members to discuss the root causes of SARV, and shared survivor stories. And develop actionable solutions.
Participants of the forum are calling on the government officials and authorities, judicial system, community leaders, NGOs, CGOs. INGOs, Media. And other relevant stakeholders to address issues related to SARV in the country.
Participants are calling on government officials, the judicial system, community leaders, NGOs, CGOs, INGOs, media, and other relevant stakeholders to address SARV issues nationwide. Panel members, including experts working with non-governmental organizations, expressed their concerns about the challenges they face in addressing this issue.
Advocates for SARV and SFV are concerned by the high number of cases in the country and emphasize the need for collective action to tackle this crisis. Working on the ground year-round, they highlighted the lack of effective judicial awareness and government intervention as major obstacles.
Program Support Officer, Voice for Change, Leentje Be’soer appealed to the government to take a firm approach to implement policies to address SARV issues nationwide.
She expressed the stress of witnessing the toxic nature of violence associated with violence particularly the misuse of social media, where even the educated individuals entertain the toxicity instead of becoming advocates for change.
The forum suggested addressing SARV through collaborative effort with the governments and churches driven by policy-based awareness campaigns aimed at restoring peace.
