PNG, when are we going to start raising our boys right?

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By Tania Nugent

PNG,
when are we going to start raising our boys right? The truth is,
incidents like these involving PNG males abroad happen way more often
than what ends up making it into news reports and it has been happening
for years and years. Many perpetrators are dumbfounded when called in
by authorities, not thinking that what they did was wrong or a big deal.
“I was drunk”, “I didn’t do anything, I only touched her”, “I was only
taking pictures.”, etc.

The disproportionately
high number of these type of incidents abroad makes me wonder just what
our males are getting away with back here in PNG because the reality is
the culture of our society doesn’t make it easy for our women to file a
report, there’s a tendency to sweep these things under mat, families
will protect and their sons instead of allowing consequences, these
kinds of allegations aren’t taken as seriously and victim-blaming makes
many PNG women to ashamed to even report, so basically it's an
environment where perpetrators can offend and get away with it.

Even with this recent case there are PNG people on social media refusing to accept that this perpetrator is a Papua New Guinean, which is why I have included his picture along with the article.

Places like Australia have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior, they take it seriously and they are resourced very well to deal with it, so our boys and men who are down there just doing what they think is “normal” sit with mouth open when they are caught out and try to plead innocence and the old “I didn’t know it was wrong”.

There needs to be an induction process or some sort of education process that our young males on student or sporting visas go through so they understand how to behave lawfully and respectfully and not bring this "pekpek pasin" to other countries.

For those who might want
to get defensive about this post - Yes, not all PNG males do this - but
certainly enough to indicate we have a serious problem.

AFL PNG
needs to look at programs like Equal Playing Field and seek advice from
them on how to address this problem. So does every organisation
offering overseas scholarships to PNG students.

But really, ultimately, it’s up to our society in PNG as a whole to start expecting better from our young men and boys and to stop protecting them when they break the law for these kinds of crimes and against women. If we fix it here at home there is less worry about it happening when they go abroad.
If you are as ashamed of this as I am, don't sweep it under the mat, don't dismiss it by saying "not all PNG men". Let's face it and fix it.