Marriage should have been a partnership of love, respect and safety instead became a cycle of control, humiliation and violence to Jane*, a 36-year-old woman, a mother to three beautiful daughters. She faced challenges in seeking services she needed and continued to experience violence but with support from Femili PNG and partners, Jane found courage, strength and hope she longed.
Her story
For 14 years Jane walked through an abusive marriage perpetrated from her partner. The greatest wound all through the years in her marriage has been the breaking of trust – trust that her partner will love her, protect her and respect her. Jane did not only lose trust in her husband but to the systems that should have protected her – a difficult moment to her in the process of seeking justice.
“When the police failed to act, when the court delayed, even the community allowed violence against me, my trust was broken repeatedly,” Jane said.
Jane needed immediate intervention and support, but the road to justice was not easy, she continued to suffer from the hands of the perpetrator whilst waiting for justice. The violence became more severe and affected both her personal and professional life including children. It reached every corner of her life – her home, her work, her friendships.
The pain of being a survivor grew even worse. Children were affected. They lived in fear, watching their father perpetrating violence to their mother, Jane.
“As a mother, the greatest pain is knowing that their childhood was stolen in this way. Trust, safety and security were taken from them,” Jane said.
More recently, her daughters were taken away from her. As any other mother would feel, Jane’s heart was torn. She could not bear the pain of losing her children; it was too much.
“The violence is not only against me – but it has also now torn my children from their mother, separating us and leaving me powerless to protect them.”
Femili PNG’s intervention
It was in her darkest moment, Jane learned about Femili PNG. Femili PNG started working on her case to progress interventions in coordination with police and court after identifying her needs and challenges. Despite facing ongoing challenges in seeking justice, Femili PNG case officer continued to advocate and successfully lodged her IPO in June. However, the IPO court hearing did not eventuate as the court kept on adjourning it.
An opportunity arose when the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) invited Femili PNG to present a challenging case before a panel of judges. Jane’s case was identified as a case with ongoing challenges. Her presentation moved senior judges to quicky intervened and advocate at their level to have Jane’s case progressed. With their intervention, an interim protection order (IPO) was served to the perpetrator with orders issued successfully. Furthermore, Jane received support to pursue a case for her daughters.
Jane’s courage to continue to pursue her case and reached this milestone not only captured her personal experience and success but shined Femili PNG to a higher level, promoting strong partnerships with government institutions to encourage effective responses to family and sexual violence (FSV) across Papua New Guinea.
Thank you to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, and Trade (DFAT) for the unwavering commitment and support to Femili PNG in partnership with FemiliPNG Australia through the Australian NGO Corporation Program (ANCP) to assist survivors like Jane getting the best outcome they need and at same time promoting Femili PNG’s work to help improve response to FSV.
*Not her real name.
