The Family Sexual Violence Action Committee in Papua New Guinea says it's common for the wives of police officers to be physically abused by their husbands.
The comment follows the death of Priscilla Wonga who died in Port Moresby this month after a brutal beating from her policeman husband.
Ms Wonga's husband is still at large and the committee's national programme co-ordinator, Ume Wainetti, says it's also common for the police to shield their colleagues from arrest.
Photo: 123rf
Transcript
UME WAINETTI: That always happens and I think that is the problem we have with, not just police, probably most professions, people try to protect their friends. And here with the police that always happens it is because many are also perpetrators themselves so you know like they tend to stand for each other. So in this case like with the police we usually see that they try to protect their own. But with what we have seen in the last couple of years it is because of the police commissioner's stand on this issue, many o these police officers have been dealt with.
BEN ROBINSON-DRAWBRIDGE: Yes I note that there has been good progress in this area by the police.
UW: Yes there has been good progress, police commissioner has taken a tough stand and provincial police commanders are also enforcing that. So police officers who are committing these crimes are being referred to and some have lost jobs, others have been jailed. Like you said there is progress but it is not the sort of progress that we would like to see. I believe they keep using this excuse of there is our culture to deal with and there is the police culture. And so it makes things really difficult sometimes to work with the police. One time I said you know we try to make them sing a tune but they keep singing the tune that they want to sing.
BR-D: I suppose cases like this make it difficult for people who have suffered gender based violence to then go to the police.
UW: There are a lot of, lots of police wives who suffer this abuse in their homes. Few have come out to complain and for those who have come out to complain those police officers have been dealt with. Many have not. So there are many police officers who are beating their wives. Like one I met showed me a photograph of herself before she started getting beaten up. And she was one of the ugliest women in this country I have met. Her bone structures all changed. But she still begged me not to report him to the department because he might lose his job because he was the breadwinner. She was more concerned about her children where they would go to live things like that and though she was not happy with what was happening to her. So many remain and they die in that situation.
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