Alice* was pregnant when she was referred to Femili PNG by the Family Support Centre (FSC) at Angau Hospital.
During the initial assessment, Alice said that she was constantly experiencing physical and sexual abuse from her husband. She said she had also had several miscarriages as a result of the abuse. At first, she filed for an Interim Protection Order (IPO).
But while on an IPO, her husband assaulted her again in breach of the court order.
After this, Alice left her home with her children and asked a Femili PNG Case Worker to support her in filing a case at the District Court against her husband for the breach of the IPO.
Because of this, Alice and her children needed to stay in a safe house for their protection. Femili PNG assisted with their daily needs such as food and clothing while the case was being managed.
While awaiting the outcome of the court case, the Case Worker carried out family tracing and contacted local service providers in Alice’s home province to assess the possibility of repatriation.
After a few discussions over the phone with the client’s father, her family decided to receive her back and agreed to take care of the client and her children. In December 2016, Alice was repatriated to her parents’ home.
Local service providers such as the village magistrate and police were there to receive the client.
As part of the repatriation support, Alice was provided a business start-up kit to earn her own income. In this way, she would not be a burden to her parents and will be able to support the needs of her children.
When she was reunited with her family, Alice thanked the Femili PNG staff and everyone who made it possible for her to access these services.
She said we could share her story to help other women reading it who may be going through the same situation as her.
* Not her real name
