ChildFund Australia has today launched a campaign to Stop Violence Against Women and Children in Papua New Guinea and we need your help!
In Papua New Guinea, women are raped, killed and maimed on a shocking scale. The brutality is severe, often involving bush knives, axes, burning, spearing and even biting. Family violence is particularly devastating with 2 in 3 women beaten by their husbands, and their children often witnessing or subjected to violence themselves.
We made a promise to the women, children and men we spoke with in PNG that we would share their stories – the good, the bad, the ugly. For the women and children, they said being heard and believed was giving them the courage to keep fighting for safety and justice. For the men, they insisted we simply tell the truth – men like Taina who regret having once been violent towards their families and are now standing with women in the fight for change.
In conjunction with this campaign, ChildFund has launched a fundraising appeal to support a new program in PNG that not only provides services to protect women and children but also works with men and youth to change attitudes and behaviours over the long term. ChildFund is supporting local communities to tackle this issue because violence against women inevitably hurts children too.
How you can help
You can support our campaign in the following ways:
1. SHARE OUR CONTENT: Follow ChildFund Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube LIKE, SHARE and RETWEET our posts (Like is good but SHARE IS BETTER!). We will be posting videos, photos, infographics, stories and blogs from women and men who want their stories told.
2. SEND A MESSAGE IN A PHOTO: Snap a photo of yourself holding a message of support and post it on your social networks using the hashtag #stopviolencePNG. Don’t forget to tag ChildFund Australia too, so we can see and share your post! Suggested messages that can be printed out can be downloaded here. (If there’s room to include our web address in your post, please do: www.childfund.org.au)
3. SIGN OUR PETITION: The women and men who shared their stories with us want to raise awareness on this issue. Adding your voice to the thousands of people who have already signed our petition will give them the support they need to continue their fight for change. Sign the petition here.
4. DONATE TO OUR APPEAL: Your donation will help tackle violence against women and children by providing medical care and support, as well as awareness and prevention programs.
Thank you for supporting the movement to stop violence against women and children in Papua New Guinea.