Despite calls from women’s groups urging the government to implement policies to address the underrepresentation of women in politics, the introduction of temporary special measures (TSM) to increase women’s political representation in Fiji remains a distant goal.

This week, leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), Cabinet Minister Aseri Radrodro, and opposition MP Ketal Lal expressed their objection to reserving 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women.

Radrodro, who is also Education Minister, told The Fiji Times that Fijian women were “capable of holding their ground without needing a crutch like TSM to give them a leg up”.

• READ MORE: Pacific women in Parliament

Lal called the special allocation of seats for women in Parliament “tokenistic” and beneficial to “a few selected individuals”, as part of submissions to the Fiji Law Reform Commission and the Electoral Commission of Fiji, which are undertaking a comprehensive review and reform of the Fiji’s electoral framework.

Their sentiment is shared by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who said at a Pacific Technical Cooperation Session of the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Suva earlier this month, that “putting in women for the sake of mere numbers” is “tokenistic”.

Rabuka said it devalued “the dignity of women at the highest level of national governance.”

“This specific issue makes me wonder at times. As the percentage of women in population is approximately the same as for men, why are women not securing the votes of women? Or more precisely, why aren’t women voting for women?” he said.

Doubled down
The Prime Minister doubled down on his position on the issue when The Fiji Times asked him if it was the right time for Fiji to legislate mandatory seats for women in Parliament as the issue was gaining traction.

“There is no need to legislate it. We do not have a compulsory voting legislation, nor do we yet need a quota-based system.

However, Rabuka’s Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Speaker Lenora Qereqeretabua holds a different view.

Qereqeretabua, from the National Federation Party, said in January that Parliament needed to look like the people that it represented.

“Women make up half of the world’s population, and yet we are still fighting to ensure that their voices and experiences are not only heard but valued in the spaces where decisions are made,” she told participants at the Exploring Temporary Special Measures for Inclusive Governance in Fiji forum.

She said Fiji needed more women in positions of power.

“Not because women are empirically better leaders, because leadership is not determined by gender, but because it is essential for democracy that our representatives reflect the communities that they serve.”

‘Shameless’ lag
Another member of Rabuka’s coalition government, one of the deputy prime ministers in and a former Sodelpa leader, Viliame Gavoka said in March 2022 that Fiji had “continued to shamelessly lag behind in protecting and promoting women’s rights and their peacebuilding expertise”.

He pledged at the time that if Sodelpa was voted into government, it would “ensure to break barriers and accelerate progress, including setting specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas . . . ”

However, since coming into power in December 2022, Gavoka has not made any advance on his promise, and his party leader Radrodro has made his views known on the issue.

Fijian women’s rights and advocacy groups say that introducing special measures for women is neither discriminatory nor a breach of the 2013 Constitution.

In a joint statement in October last year, six non-government organisations called on the government to enforce provisions for temporary special measures for women in political party representation and ensure that reserved seats are secured for women in all town and city councils and its committees.

“Nationally, it is unacceptable that after three national elections under new electoral laws, there has been a drastic decline in women’s representation from contesting national elections to being elected to parliament,” they said.

“It is clear from our history that cultural, social, economic and political factors have often stood in the way of women’s political empowerment.”

Short-term need
They said temporary special measures may need to be implemented in the short-term to advance women’s equality.

“The term ‘temporary special measures’ is used to describe affirmative action policies and strategies to promote equality and empower women.

“If we are to move towards a society where half the population is reflected in all leadership spaces and opportunities, we must be gender responsive in the approaches we take to achieve gender equality.”

The Fijian Parliament currently has only five (out of 55) women in the House — four in government and one in opposition. In the previous parliamentary term (2018-2022), there were 10 women directly elected to Parliament.

According to the Fiji Country Gender Assessment report, 81 percent of Fijians believe that women are underrepresented in the government, and 72 percent of Fijians believe greater representation of women would be beneficial for the country.

However, the report found that time and energy burden of familial, volunteer responsibilities, patriarchal norms, and power relations as key barriers to women’s participation in the workplace and public life.

Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) board member Akanisi Nabalarua believes that despite having strong laws and policies on paper, the implementation is lacking.

Lip service
Nabalarua said successive Fijian governments had often paid lip service to gender equality while failing to make intentional and meaningful progress in women’s representation in decision making spaces, reports fijivillage.com.

Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said Rabuka’s dismissal of the women’s rights groups’ plea was premature.

Chaudhry, a former prime minister who was deposed in a coup in 2000, said Rabuka should have waited for the Law Reform Commission’s report “before deciding so conclusively on the matter”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji MP Lynda Tabuya has been dismissed as the country’s Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said in a statement that in light of the recent events concerning the conduct of Lynda Tabuya, and in consideration of:

• the Oath she has taken as a Minister; and
• standards expected of any Minister

He had decided to exercise the power conferred upon to him by Section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution, to dismiss her as a minister, with immediate effect.

• READ MORE: The boss needs an explanation – PM writes to Lynda Tabuya

She will remain as a Member of Parliament.

Rabuka said this was not a decision he had taken lightly, but one that was “necessary in the best interest of the people that we serve”.

Sashi Kiran will replace Lynda Tabuya as the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, effective from the date of her swearing in by the President, Rabuka said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s Women and Children’s Minister Lynda Tabuya says Pacific island countries need to “strengthen our laws” on online harassment.

Tabuya spoke to RNZ Pacific on the sidelines of the Pacific Women in Power forum taking place in Auckland this week.

She said the issue that she was dealing with — which is allegations of a sex and drug scandal between her and former cabinet minister Aseri Radrodro — was currently with the police.

• READ MORE: Other online bullying reports

“[Police] are investigating it,” she said.

“And it just so happens that a person who was causing this harassment online lives in Sydney,” she said.

She said she was able to get the assistance of Australia’s online safety watchdog to issue the notice to the person to take down the content — images — because it is a crime in Australia.

“If you put up content that is or appears to be the person, so then the person [who published it] needs to take the content down otherwise they can face prosecution,” she said.

‘Grateful for swift action’
“That was the process I followed and I’m grateful to the Safety Commissioner of Australia for the swift action.”

However, she said the situation she found herself in was not exclusive to her.

“It’s me today, it could be someone else tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be a minister or public figure.

“But if you have women in Fiji or across the Pacific who are facing this, and they’re being attacked — especially for populations where there are more people outside of the country than in [the] country.

Tabuya said therefore there was a need for strong policies, not just in Fiji, but across the region.

“You get more attacks from people who live overseas. Women MPs need to reach out to those countries where those people are attacking them live because the laws are much stronger.

“But it’s also a lesson for us within to strengthen our laws so that we can stand up against online bullying.

“The world is unfair and being a woman in politics, we face a lot of unfairness and injustices. But I think it also makes us so much more determined to stand up and be heard,” she added.

Meanwhile, Tabuya is currently the subject of an inquiry by her political party following the sex and drug allegation, the outcome of which has yet to be released.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Gender equity continues to be a significant problem in business globally. We all know the story: the gender pay gap is a persistent issue and female-dominated industries tend to be lower paid.

Female representation in senior leadership and board positions remains low in many countries, particularly in Aotearoa New Zealand. Women comprise only 28.5 percent of director positions across all NZX-listed companies and just 23.7 percent at companies outside of the NZX’s top 50.

Change is slow despite the well-established evidence showing the merits of improving gender equity for businesses — including better firm performance — and excellent initiatives such as Mind The Gap.

• READ MORE: CSW: Advancing women’s rights since 1946
• Do women-focused capital funds actually help women, or are they just ‘pinkwashing?’
• Auditing, matching pay and accountability will close the gender pay gap: study

But there is a way to support companies that have made the change towards greater gender equity — and encourage others to do the same: we can invest with a “gender lens”.

The aim of investing with a gender lens is not only to make a financial return but also to improve the lives of women by providing capital to those companies doing well on gender issues.

Gender lens investing goes beyond counting female representation at board level. It encompasses the number of female managers, leaders and employees as well as the existence of policies or products provided by a company to address the gender pay gap and other inequities faced by their female employees.

It also encourages investing in women-owned enterprises.

In essence, investing with a gender lens means identifying and investing in those companies that are empowering their female employees and embracing diversity.

This might seem simple. But there are no investment portfolios or funds investing in companies that do right by women.

One explanation for this gap is that identifying gender-friendly companies is not easy. And this is where rating agencies have a role to play.

U.N. Chief Says World Is ‘300 Years Away’ From Gender Equity And Women’s Rights Are ‘Vanishing Before Our Eyes’ https://t.co/LggXPPy79k

— Patrick F. Herlihy (@herlihy_f) March 7, 2023

The role and power of rating agencies
Over the past three decades there has been a fundamental shift towards investing for not only financial returns but also for social outcomes — so called Responsible Investing (RI).

The growth in RI has spawned an industry dedicated to defining and measuring a company’s non-financial contributions across a range of areas, specifically across the environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars.

The rating agencies build scores by collecting data on issues within each of the ESG pillars — for instance, the environmental pillar comprises data on carbon emissions, land use and water, among other measures — and then converts this into an overall score.

Fund managers, especially those managing RI funds, use these scores to inform investment decisions. What, then, are the comparable measures for gender lens investing?

While some rating agencies have created measures to identify companies suitable for a gender lens portfolio — for example, Sustainalytics has a gender equality index — others have very little on gender at all.

Some rating agencies seem to base gender equity performance on the number of women on a company’s board or its in-house policies on diversity and discrimination.

In short, there is little-to-no substantive information available to allow investing with a gender lens. And why is that?

A group of New Zealand businesses, including Skycity, Westpac, DB Breweries, Coca Cola, Xero and Kiwibank, have urged the government to address the gender pay gap.https://t.co/5Qv17tL1T4

— RNZ (@radionz) September 21, 2022

Well, rating agency MSCI states it collects information on “financially relevant ESG risks and opportunities”. Sustainalytics requires an issue to have a “substantial impact on the economic value of a company”. These agencies require an issue to affect financial performance.

Under its “social” pillar, for example, MSCI considers water usage, arguing companies in high-water-use industries face operation disruptions, higher regulation and higher costs for water, which can reduce returns and increase risk.

The absence of data related to gender implies women-friendly policies are not viewed as affecting the performance or risk of companies.

A gender lens to the rescue?
But with a bit of a push, rating agencies can help make gender equity transparent. They have the research capability and access to company data that everyday investors do not. This can help investors make informed decisions about what to invest in.

Pressure from investors can also force companies to address equity issues. When that happens, the public metrics of company performance on gender issues become a lever around which companies can be encouraged to change.

Investors themselves may also find great personal satisfaction in being able to make gender-aware decisions if they could easily apply a gender lens when deciding where to invest.

It is time for potential investors to start demanding data be collected. Once that happens, rating agencies will send a message to companies that gender equity matters. As long as investors stay silent, progress will remain slow.

Dr Ayesha Scott, senior lecturer – finance, Auckland University of Technology; Aaron Gilbert, associate professor in finance, Auckland University of Technology, and Candice Harris, professor of management, Auckland University of Technology. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

A group of “pink shoes” women in Aotearoa New Zealand campaigning for gender equality in the Catholic Church took their message with a display of well-worn shoes to St Patrick’s Cathedral plaza in Auckland today on International Women’s Day.

It was part of a national and global “Pink Shoes into the Vatican” campaign.

“Women from all over the country have sent their worn out shoes with their stories of service to the Catholic Church, only to find that the doors to full equality in all areas of the ministry and leadership remain firmly closed,” said an explanatory flyer handed out by supporters.

• READ MORE: Pink Shoes into the Vatican installation at Parliament
• ‘Women Talking’ is the Oscar nominee every Catholic needs to see
• International Women’s Day – wrap last year
• CSW: Advancing women’s rights since 1946
• Want to support companies that support women? Look at your investments through a ‘gender lens’

“A vibrant church requires a synodal structure in which all members share full equality by right of their baptism.”

The organisers, Be The Change, say: “We are interested in your story. You are invited to email or write to us telling of your experience with the church. You do not have to be a practising Catholic to participate.”

• Email: Be The Change

‘Pink Shoes into the Vatican’ campaign stories.  Video: Be The Change

Females do 73 percent of the unpaid household work in Fiji, compared with 27 percent by males, says a new research report.

The report titled “Beyond 33 percent: The Economic Empowerment of Fiji Women and Girls”, authored by Professor Wadan Narsey, was launched in Suva last week by the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM).

“The largest share (46 percent) of the unpaid household work was done by the paid labour force (females 25 percent and males 20 percent) with fulltime domestic workers, commonly known as ‘housewives’ doing 39 percent,” the report said.

• READ MORE: The full ‘Beyond 33 percent’ report

“Students did a significant 11 percent of unpaid household work, 7 percent by female students and 4 percent by male students.”

The report also said that for students, the gender gaps began right from the earliest years in primary and the gaps continued to grow through secondary and tertiary ages.

“Females in the labour force generally did more unpaid household work per week (29 hours) than males (12 hours a week).

Labour workload gap
“The gap was 14 hours per week for wage and salary earners and employers, while it was an extremely large 23 hours per week for ‘others’ who are more in the informal sector such as family workers, self-employed and subsistence.

“Employees, employers and self-employed clearly have the highest work burdens with females working on average 64 hours per week or 13 hours per week more than the corresponding males.”

The report added that females were still doing the bulk of the unpaid household work in the labour force.

Women in Fiji comprise just 34 percent of the labour force.

The report solidly based on official data sources such as the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, Fiji Revenue and Customs Service and Fiji National Provident Fund to generate evidence on status of women and girls in the Fijian economy and society.

Supported by the Australian government through the We Rise Coalition, the report comprehensively documents the many inequities that women and girls face in the economy in paid work (formal and informal sectors), unpaid household work and in the use of leisure time.

According to the report, females are concentrated in employment status work with extremely low average incomes, such as family work and subsistence.

The report stated females were concentrated more in occupations and industries with low average incomes.

“The female average income in 2015-2016 was $10,880 — 14 percent less than the $12,691 for males,” the report said.

Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

The swearing in of Labour list MP Soraya Peke-Mason to Parliament on October 25 will mark a milestone for women in Aotearoa New Zealand.

For the first time in its history, women in New Zealand’s Parliament will have an equal share of seats in the House.

“That’s quite significant,” Peke-Mason said. “It really shows the maturity of Aotearoa in terms of equity from a gender perspective.”

• READ MORE: Reports on the NZ local body elections

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said reaching the milestone was “significant and heartening”.

“Our Parliament will always be better when the diversity of voices in New Zealand are heard in our law making and government.

“The Labour Party in particular has been deeply committed to having equality of representation within our own caucus and we are really excited to welcome Soraya to our team.”

Peke-Mason will also be the first MP sworn in by the new Speaker, her cousin Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe, and the first new MP pledging allegiance to the new king, Charles III.

Sworn in with Te Reo
Representing the Rangitīkei electorate and supported by kaumātua and whānau from the river and mountain tribes and Rangitīkei, she will be sworn in at 2pm, in Te Reo Māori, and will give her maiden speech at 5.45pm.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be going to Parliament to represent our rohe,” Peke-Mason said.

“Over the last one or two decades my work has taken me across the Whanganui, the Ruapehu and the Rangitīkei districts.

“I’m excited and proud to be able to represent our rohe, and for Te Awa Tupua, for Rangitīkei, for all of us to have another strong voice at a table that makes really important and hard decisions on behalf of Aotearoa.”

It is two years since Peke-Mason missed out at the 2020 election. Her elevation to Parliament was announced in June after news that Kris Faafoi would leave politics and Trevor Mallard would move on to a diplomatic posting.

Peke-Mason, who lives at Rātana south of Whanganui, was Rangitīkei’s first wahine Māori councillor for 12 years until 2019, when she unsuccessfully ran for Horizons Regional Council.

In 2020, she stood in the general election in Rangitīkei against incumbent Ian McKelvie and was ranked No 60 on the Labour list.

‘You just get on with it’
“After the results of the last election, there was a possibility that I could enter Parliament but you just get on with it. You leave that there to the side and you just get on with your mahi at home.”

She was appointed to the Whanganui District Health Board and to its Hauora ā Iwi Relationship Board. She also helped lead the Whanganui Māori Regional Tourism board, was a member of Rangitīkei District Council’s Te Roopu Ahi Kā and held a number of iwi Māori and Māori trust governance roles.

“I’ve had plenty of time to be able to exit the work that I’ve been doing in the rohe, to tidy up those loose ends, to finish up projects properly, look at replacements, and work with Māori authorities that I’ve done work for to ensure there’s an appropriate exit process so that they’re not left in the lurch,” she said.

“And I’ve also been able to exit some of the boards I’ve been on.

“I’ve been lucky to have the time to do that. Not every MP gets that time.”

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

The results of the 2022 Papua New Guinea elections confirm that women will once again sit in PNG’s Parliament — after a hiatus of five years.

The 2022 elections were therefore not exactly a repeat of the 2017 elections for women candidates, but much more work is needed if significant numbers of women are to be elected.

The two new women MPs are Rufina Peter, who won the governorship of Central Province as an endorsed candidate of the People’s National Congress, and Kessy Sawang, who won the Rai Coast Open seat as an endorsed candidate of the People First Party.

• READ MORE: Hope for women in PNG elections – Peter becomes lone female governor
• Other PNG election reports

There were 10 other women candidates who were placed within the top five for the seats that they contested (see the list at the end of this article).

So, unfortunately for democracy, PNG’s 11th Parliament will again be an overwhelmingly male-dominated legislature.

However, a promising trend evident in the 2022 elections was a significant increase in the number of women candidates endorsed by political parties. Data provided by the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission indicated that, of the 159 women candidates nominated in 2022, 64 (40.3 percent) were endorsed by political parties.

In 2017, there were 167 women candidates, but only 38 (22.8 percent) were endorsed by political parties.

Doubling of proportion
This is an almost doubling of the proportion of women candidates with party endorsement for the 2022 national elections, despite a slight decline in the number of women candidates.

Most parties endorsed between one and four women candidates, but the National Alliance endorsed five, PANGU endorsed seven, and the new People’s Resource Awareness party endorsed a total of nine — a record number for PNG.

But, while the results for women candidates were not an exact repeat of the 2017 elections, the barriers and challenges that women experienced most definitely were.

PNG media reported many problems with the conduct of the 2022 elections by the Electoral Commission.

Several of the PNG Post-Courier editorials have been very critical, claiming that the elections may be the “worst since independence”. PNG election analyst Terence Wood concluded that whether or not it was as bad as 2017, the 2022 elections “have still been much worse than the people of PNG deserve”.

Many thousands of voters could not vote because their names were not on the electoral roll, which had not been updated since 2017. There was also inadequate security at polling and counting centres, and poor logistics and handling of election materials.

As a result, the elections were marred by allegations of fraud, corruption and foul play, which were the catalyst for violence and chaos in parts of the country, including in the capital Port Moresby.

Poor conduct details
The post-election reports from international and domestic election observer teams will document in detail the poor conduct of the 2022 elections.

Violence, bribery, vote rigging, stolen ballot papers, and manipulation of counting at counting centres all disadvantage women. Female candidates publicly condemned the undemocratic nature and practices during polling and counting in Enga and Jiwaka provinces.

They were joined by former member for Eastern Highlands Province Julie Soso, NGOs, and more than 100 women leaders who protested about the way in which their right to vote had been taken away by corruption, violence and intimidation by male candidates and their supporters.

Some women candidates in Port Moresby used their social media platforms to call corrupt electoral officials, candidates and their supporters to account.

The dangerous and unfair electoral environment in certain areas may have also led some capable women to decide not to contest the elections. In the past three elections there was a steady rise in the number of women candidates, but not so in 2022.

At the 2022 elections, the number of women candidates decreased by 5 percent from 167 in 2017 to 159 in 2022.

In light of the results of the 2022 elections, the PNG government should reconsider the role that temporary special measures (TSMs) could play in increasing the number of women elected to Parliament.

Formidable challenge
However, attaining political will at the highest level will be a formidable challenge.

The Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-Based Violence (SPC-GBV) tabled the second and final Report of the Committee on 21 April 2022, which included recommendations for immediate action by the next government in respect of TSMs and other measures to support the political empowerment of women.

They included support for the 2011 proposal to reserve 22 seats for women, and a party candidate quota, as specified in the amended Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC).

Prime Minister James Marape has already rejected outright the need for reserved seats for women.

Making reference to Rufina Peter’s election to Governor of Central Province, he claimed that “any women can win any election, they do not need special seats in Parliament”.

He maintained that women can win on their merits, but acknowledged the flaws with the electoral process in 2022 that made it much more difficult for women to get elected, and promised to improve the electoral process to make elections free and fair.

However, Marape has yet to comment on the amended OLIPPAC, which was approved by the National Executive Council and tabled in Parliament on 3 January 2020. This legislation includes section 56(4) which states:

“A registered political party shall, from the total number of candidates nominated by the party in a general election, ensure that twenty percent of these candidates are women candidates.”

More candidates needed
While 64 women candidates were endorsed by political parties in 2022, many more such candidates are needed. Political party quotas for women candidates are used successfully by many countries around the world and could, if implemented, significantly increase the number of women candidates in PNG.

This form of TSM still allows voters to decide which candidate, based on their merits, they want to represent them.

Political party quotas would therefore be a positive step, but will not be enough. What is also needed is a holistic reform of the electoral process to make it more accommodating of women as both candidates and voters.

The 10 women who finished between second and fifth were:

Jean Eparo Parkop – an Independent candidate who contested for the second time for Northern (Oro) Regional and came second.

Delilah Gore – a People’s National Congress party candidate who contested for the third time for Sohe Open and came third.

Jennifer Baing – a People’s Movement for Change party candidate who contested for Morobe Regional and came third.

Diane Unagi-Koiam – a United Labour Party candidate who contested for Moresby Northeast Open and came third.

Lynn Ozanne Ronnie – an Independent candidate who contested for Manus Open and came third.

Michelle Hau’ofa – a People’s Party candidate who contested for Moresby South Open and came fourth.

Vikki Mossine – a Future of PNG Party candidate who contested for Rigo Open and came fourth.

Joyce Grant – a National Alliance Party candidate who contested for Kiriwina-Goodenough Open and came fifth.

Jennifer Rudd – a PANGU party candidate who contested for Milne Bay Regional and came fifth.

Rubie Wanaru Kerepa – an Independent candidate who contested for Kavieng Open and came fifth.

All were first-time candidates except for the first two, and eight of the 10 candidates were endorsed by political parties.

Orovu Sepoe is a gender equity and social inclusion specialist. Currently working as a consultant, she was formerly a senior lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. Dr Lesley Clark served for five terms in the Queensland Parliament in Australia. She has participated in several election observation missions, including the last three in Papua New Guinea. Teddy Winn is a PhD candidate in political science at James Cook University. This article was first published here by the DevPolicy Blog and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

A Papua New Guinean economist says the election of women in Parliament will be crucial to advancing gender equality in the country.

Papua New Guineans go to the polls on July 2 with 142 women candidates putting their hands up to contest the 118 seats up for grabs.

University of Papua New Guinea academic Maholopa Laveil said PNG was among the few countries in the world that do not have any women in Parliament.

• READ MORE: PNG: parties need to do more to help women get elected
• Other PNG election reports

Laveil said the number of females contesting the 2022 elections had also dropped compared to the 2017 polls, which had 176.

He said fewer women candidates — just over four percent of the total candidates across more seats — means their likelihood of success had fallen.

“So, it’s a worry. PNG is one of the four countries that doesn’t have women representation in Parliament and if we do not elect them this time around in terms of strengthening gender equality, we’ll go in the opposite direction as a country.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The 142 women running in the Papua New Guinea election are hoping to prove that the PNG Parliament is no longer a male-dominated world.

They face an almighty struggle given only seven women have ever won seats there before.

But when the three weeks of polling get underway on July 2 these women are determined and hopeful of entering PNG’s Parliament.

• READ MORE: Other PNG general election reports

They are contesting alongside 3357 men for the 118 seats in Parliament.

A number of them are in seats with more than three dozen male rivals.

For years there’s been talk of reserving seats for women, but this has so far come to nothing.

Through it, all the women have remained indomitable — people like Julie Soso, who first stood in the Eastern Highlands regional seat in 1997 and has contested every election since.

She won in 2012 and wants back in to complete unfinished business.

Pushed for hospital upgrade
As the governor of Eastern Highlands, in that period 2012 to 2017, Soso had pushed for a hospital upgrade in Goroka, giving it diagnostic capability.

This went ahead but she said since the change of government in 2017, nothing has happened — the machines paid for by foreign donors lie idle and no staff have been hired to operate them.

Soso wants the machinery in use and helping detect diseases like cancer.

“We need to have specialist doctors to diagnose them and if surgeries need to be done upon them it’s got to be within our own hospital,” she said.

“So there was a dream, there was a vision, and then, after the Eastern Highlands changed government the project stood still.”

Matilda Koma is standing against 37 men in the Goilala Open seat in Central Province.

Koma has stood four times before in the Goilala seat but feels this time she has the support to get her over the line.

Deteriorating infrastructure
If she got elected she has a clear idea of what she wants to do, starting with the rehabilitation of the deteriorating infrastructure in the district.

“Like bridges, roads and even all those building structures at every mission and government station, kind of running down,” Koma said.

“The basic services are also missing. Health and education are suffering because there are hardly any aid posts. The hospitals are not in running condition, and the drugs — supply of medicines — is just not consistent.”

Oro Province in Papua New Guinea has high-quality soils and can produce great organic food but people cannot get it to market because the infrastructure is lacking.

That is the view of Jean Eparo, who is standing in next month’s election for the Oro regional seat.

Eparo, who is married to the governor of PNG’s National Capital District, Powes Parkop, said that if she got the job her immediate focus would be on improving transport infrastructure.

“Not only roads but all the other transportation. Bridges — they’re not very well maintained, and then you have people who travel by small outboard motors, and that is very risky, so we have got to make that safe and a bit less risky for people. And then of course our road connections, they are also very bad,” she said.

Enough backing
As a veteran of two earlier campaigns, Eparo believes she now has enough backing to topple Gary Juffa who has held the seat for 10 years.

Delilah Gore, who is running in the Sohe Open in Oro Province, won the seat in 2012, became a cabinet minister, then lost the seat in 2017.

She said that loss still hurts, “that shouldn’t have happened because I did my best, the very best I could. But right now I can have reactions from people. A lot of people are telling me I have done well in the last five years – the voters still couldn’t believe I lost the seat, so I am having a lot of support right now. I am confident of coming back again.”

Along with another profile candidate we heard from in an earlier programme, Dulciana Somare Brash, the daughter of PNG’s first prime minister, who is standing in the Angoram Open, these women are confident they will do well.

Hopefully, for at least some of them, that will be the case.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s first cabinet is Australia’s most diverse ever. Not only do women comprise ten of 23 cabinet ministers (or about 43 percent), many have diverse race, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

The broader ministry boasts many firsts, including Penny Wong as Australia’s first foreign minister with an Asian background, Linda Burney, the first female Indigenous cabinet minister, and Anne Aly, the first female minister with a Muslim background.

A photo of the incoming Minister for Aged Care and for Sport Anika Wells walking through Parliament House with her three young children seems emblematic of the changes brought by the election.

• READ MORE: View from The Hill: Record 10 women in Albanese cabinet, and surprise move for Plibersek to environment
• Australia’s new Parliament will have record numbers of women – will this finally make it a safe place to work?

While falling short of 50/50 representations, this is a cabinet that better represents the country it serves. It is widely welcomed and long overdue.

Australia has been lagging behind
For many years, Australia has lagged behind the rest of the world in gender equality in both Parliament and cabinet.

In January 2022, 33 percent of Scott Morrison’s cabinet were female. In 2021, the Inter-Parliamentary Union ranked Australia 73rd of 193 countries for gender parity in the national Parliament. This was up from 90th in 2019 but significantly down from 29th under Kevin Rudd in 2008.

With the incoming Albanese government, we have almost caught up to those countries we like to compare ourselves with. In 2021, women held 50 percent or more of ministerial positions in seven OECD countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Spain, and Sweden, while New Zealand’s cabinet had 40 percent.

Merit and the ministry
For decades, Australia stuck to the mantra that ministerial recruitment should be made on “merit” rather than gender.

This thinking belongs to an outdated political culture, where women can only access positions of political power with the approval of their male colleagues. But it still exists.

New deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, when talking about the need to attract more women to the party, has flagged the “issue of merit”.

If the 2022 federal election has taught us anything, it is that Australians had run out of patience with the status quo, and the electorate is now demanding politicians look like the country they serve — whether in traditional parties or as independents.

However, people are taking note that we are not at gender parity yet. The first media question for Albanese after announcing his ministry on Tuesday night was:

What will it take to get 50/50 representation of women in cabinet, in the ministry? Would you like to see the factional caucuses put forward 50/50 for your consideration in the future? How far away is Australia from that level of representation?

The importance of leadership
Claire Annesley’s book with Karen Beckwith, and Susan Franceschet, Cabinets, Ministers and Gender, shows significant changes in women’s representation often result from pre-election pledges made by a leader. For example, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged a parity cabinet ahead of his election in 2015 and achieved this goal.

The pledge is a powerful tool because many leaders are fully empowered to make their ministerial selections.

Look out Government House #auspol pic.twitter.com/X1HUqQzl6j

— Anika Wells MP (@AnikaWells) May 31, 2022

Albanese is on record as saying “Australia should be leading the world in equality between women and men”.

While he did not make a pledge for gender equality in cabinet during the campaign, the ALP Constitution does have affirmative action rules which set out an objective “to have 50 percent women at all levels in the Party organisation, and in public office positions the Party holds” with a minimum percentage requirement of 45 percent from 2022 and 50 percent from 2025.

However, Labor leaders have traditionally relied on the party factions to nominate ministers that are then agreed to by caucus. As the late Labor minister Susan Ryan has noted, factional politics have been a significant barrier to women gaining access to senior positions.

Even with quotas, the factional “king makers” have shaped Albanese’s cabinet. This was not without “a kerfuffle” according to political journalist Katharine Murphy, who reported “the right faction was in danger of not complying with Labor’s affirmative action rules”.

This resulted in some surprise last-minute ministerial appointments.

Look at the lineup
An important feature of Albanese’s cabinet is not just the diverse range of women who now sit at the table, but the prestigious portfolios which they hold.

The appointment of Wong to foreign affairs, Clare O’Neil to home affairs and Gallagher to finance place women at the centre of government power.

Women are also leading ministries with large spending responsibilities, including Amanda Rishworth who has been appointed Minister for Social Services. In contrast, some have been disappointed by Tanya Plibersek’s surprise shift from education to environment.

The test of the new cabinet is to see what difference diversity makes. To what extent will the experiences of these ministers bring new priorities, innovative solutions and accountability to Australian government?

Two areas hold promise. The allocation of the women’s portfolio to Gallagher is important, given she jointly holds the finance portfolio and has oversight over key budget decisions.

At the very least, we should expect as a priority a renewed whole-of-government women’s budget statement, led from a key central agency.

The second area of promise is Burney’s appointment as minister for Indigenous Australians. As an expert in Indigenous affairs, and someone with a strong commitment to the implementation of the Uluru Statement of the Heart, Burney may well oversee the signature reform of this government: a constitutionally enshrined First Nation’s Voice to Parliament.

The incoming cabinet also has a new and potentially game-changing resource in the new Parliament. The lower house has the highest number of female MPs ever, at 38 percent. The crossbench — the largest of any Parliament — also includes many women independent members who want to see action on integrity, climate change and women’s rights.

There is an enormous opportunity now for the government to draw on the expertise of this crossbench to drive important changes through parliament and recast the gender status quo of Australian politics.

Dr Louise Chappell, Scientia Professor, UNSW Sydney and Claire Annesley, Dean, UNSW Sydney. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

With recent polling showing National edging ahead of Labour for the first time in two years, Jacinda Ardern’s previously strong support has eroded rapidly since winning a remarkable outright majority at the 2020 general election.

But the dip in electoral fortunes is only part of the story. It’s probably not an overstatement to say Ardern is presently one of the most reviled people in Aotearoa New Zealand, attracting vitriol that violates the bounds of normal, reasoned political debate.

During the recent illegal occupation of Parliament grounds, the apparent hatred was fully evident. There were ludicrous claims the prime minister is a mass murderer, and demands she be removed from office and executed for “crimes against humanity”.

• READ MORE: The reward for good pandemic leadership: Lessons from Jacinda Ardern’s New Zealand reelection
• The extremism visible at the Parliament protest has been growing in NZ for years – is enough being done?
• Analysis shows horrifying extent of abuse sent to women MPs via Twitter

Even on the supposedly professional social networking site LinkedIn, false claims that Ardern is a “tyrant” or “dictator” have been increasingly commonplace. For those making such claims, factual, constitutional, electoral and legal realities seemingly hold no weight.

So, what fuels these levels of antagonism? I suggest three factors are at play.

Context matters
How a leader is judged and what they can achieve is never simply a reflection of their individual characteristics and abilities.

Rather, as leadership scholars have long emphasised, the expectations of followers and the wider political, economic, social and historical context influence both how they are judged and their ability to achieve desired results.

In Ardern’s case, the public’s main concerns right now — food and fuel prices, rental and home ownership costs, and the effects of the omicron outbreak — are beyond the direct control of any political leader. Some will require years of transformative effort before significant improvements are seen.

A paradox of leadership is that while followers will often hold unrealistic expectations that leaders can solve complex problems quickly, they are also quick to blame leaders when they fail to meet those unrealistic expectations.

Ardern is caught in the maw of these dynamics, and that’s one of the factors fuelling the attacks on her.

Protest over, but the flames of disinformation keep burning: https://t.co/2AagprfTqT pic.twitter.com/jJTxJuHgG4

— 1News (@1NewsNZ) March 10, 2022

Covid controversies
The second obvious reason lies in the covid-related policies — including vaccine mandates, crowd limits and border controls — that have disrupted people’s lives and been heavily criticised by vested interests such as expat New Zealanders and various business sectors.

Anti-mandate protests, in particular, have become a front for wider anti-vaccine movements and extreme right-wing conspiracists. While the prime minister must balance restrictive policies with the greater public good, detractors are not bound by such considerations.

Ironically, by demonstrating a firmness of resolve to act in the nation’s best interest — something leaders might normally expect praise for, and for which Ardern has won international admiration — leaders become open to accusations of being inflexible and unresponsive.

Echoed by opposition politicians and some media commentary, these elements combine to feed a sense of growing frustration.

Old-fashioned sexism and misogyny
But these first two factors alone, while significant, don’t explain the full extent of the violent and hateful rhetoric directed at Ardern, albeit by a minority. Rather, it’s clear this is rooted in sexist and misogynistic attitudes and beliefs, further amplified by conspiratorial mindsets.

Research shows both men and women with more traditional views desire “tough”, “bold” and “authoritative” leadership. A man displaying traditionally masculine behaviours, who is an assertive risk-taker, dominating and commanding others, is their ideal leader. This aligns with an assumption that women should follow, not lead.

Ardern’s emphasis on traditionally feminine ideals, such as caring for vulnerable others, and her strongly precautionary covid response run counter to what traditionalists respect and admire in leaders.

What’s known as “role incongruity theory” further suggests that Ardern jars with what traditionalists expect of “good women”. Overall, the sexism and misogyny inherent in these traditionalist beliefs mean Ardern is treated more harshly than a male prime minister pursuing the same policies would be.

Worryingly, the 2021 Gender Attitudes Survey (carried out by the New Zealand National Council of Women) showed such traditional views about leadership and gender are on the rise.

Abuse shouted at Ardern by anti-mandate protesters in Westporthttps://t.co/0HncAc2y7S pic.twitter.com/8dt2xJA83T

— 1News (@1NewsNZ) February 22, 2022

Traditionalist myths
Insults and abuse commonly directed at Ardern on social media reflect the generally gendered nature of cyberviolence, which disproportionately targets women. These insults translate traditionalist beliefs into sexist and misogynistic acts.

Referring to Ardern as “Cindy”, for example, infantilises her. Calling her a “pretty communist” not only reflects the sexist and misogynist view that a woman’s worth is measured by her appearance, but also suggests her looks disguise her real aims.

This plays on the traditional trope of woman as evil seductress. From there it’s a short leap to the conspiracy theories that depict Ardern as part of an evil international cabal.

Unfortunately, for traditionalists and extremists alike, the evidence shows that effective leaders do not conform to their ideal or play by their rule book. Instead, they tend to be collaborative, humble, team-oriented and able to inspire others to work for the common good — qualities women often exhibit.

Of course, Ardern’s performance is not beyond criticism. But a fair-minded analysis, free from sexist and misogynist bias, would suggest the hatred directed toward her says more about the haters than Ardern.

Dr Suze Wilson is senior lecturer in Executive Development/School of Management, Massey University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

It is the duty of men to uplift women and not undermine them or stand in their way, says Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

“Women are leaders. They are Fiji and it is our duty as men to uplift them, not undermine them or stand in their way,” Bainimarama said at an International Women’s Day celebration.

“Women are mothers, sisters, and wives, and they are CEOs, entrepreneurs, and managers.

• READ MORE: International Women’s Day around the world

“They are daughters, granddaughters, and nieces, and they are Olympic medal winners, civil servants, and ministers.

“We have always believed that women’s empowerment is the key to building a better country.”

Bainimarama said free education had put more girls in Fiji’s classrooms and that open-merit recruitment had put more women in leadership within the country’s civil service.

“Social support — like vouchers for rural pregnant women and free sanitary pads for students — has put security in women’s lives.

“And our laws punishing domestic violence have put offenders who abuse women behind bars.

Celebrating progress
“Today, on Women’s Day, we celebrate that progress knowing we have much more work to do to break gender biases and level the playing field in our society.

“So, as we acknowledge the achievements women in Fiji have made and are making, we recognise that true equality is a never-ending pursuit.

he also thanked the swomen who made up half of the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office for the effort in seeking to “modernise Fiji, empower all Fijians, and leave no one behind”.

Luke Nacei is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

Women’s participation in decision-making is fundamental to improving gender equality but despite making up half of Fiji’s population, representation at all levels of leadership for women is severely lacking, says an opposition political leader.

The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Gavoka, said this in his statement as the international community commemorates International Women’s Day today.

Gavoka said this year’s theme reminded Fijians that bias made it difficult for women to move ahead.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific gender reports

He said knowing that bias existed was not enough, action was needed to level the playing field.

Gavoka said that for far too long, Fiji had continued to “shamelessly lag behind” in protecting and promoting women’s rights and their peace-building expertise.

“A study carried out by the Fiji Women Right’s Movement reveals that 42 percent of Fiji boards or executive committees of for-profit or non-profit organisations or government agencies have no women at all and 26 percent have less than one-third female participation,” Gavoka said.

“The research on gender diversity and equality on boards looked at 192 board members across 38 government-controlled organisations and state-owned enterprises,” he said.

“The purpose of the research was to determine the level of women’s representation in the boards of the 38 entities.”

Lack of diversity
He said the research also identified challenges that limited the participation of women in Fiji’s leadership, such as lack of diversity and opportunity for women elected to preside as board chair.

“According to the research, women hold only 18 percent of board chair positions and sometimes it is the same women appointed as chair of boards in multiple organisations,” he said.

“In many cases, the same people are on multiple boards. This curtails the opportunities for others to join, contribute and gain board experience.

“Ensuring that women are better represented on boards is important to dismantle patriarchal ideals that are heavily entrenched into our society and limit women’s participation in decision-making.

“There is strong evidence that a gender-equal and diverse governance board improves accountability and diversifies the expertise, knowledge and skills available.”

Gavoka said that when SODELPA would be voted into government, they would ensure to “break barriers and accelerate progress”, including:

• setting specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas and appointments; and
• encouraging political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men as candidates and implement policies and programmes promoting women’s leadership.

“On this year’s International Women’s Day, we should also pause and reflect on the sacrifices of our women in all facets of society despite the challenges they’ve endured to bring change and progress.”

Republished with permission.

The People’s Party has made an unprecedented announcement to endorse four women candidates for all four National Capital District (NCD) seats in the Papua New Guinea national election this year.

Making the announcement at Parliament House, People’s Party founder and Enga Governor, Sir Peter Ipatas introduced the four candidates — Tania Bale (Nugent) for Moresby Northeast, Anna Kavana Bais for Moresby Northwest, Michelle Hau’ofa for Moresby South and Sylvia Pascoe for NCD regional.

The four women rallied behind Sir Peter as he made the revelation, where he said: “These are women with integrity — if people of this city decide to put a women team to lead them then I think they can make a big difference.

• READ MORE: Other PNG general election reports

“People’s Party has a history and culture of integrity and we are supporting candidates that reflect this — both men and women. We believe these four candidates we are endorsing for the NCD seats hold the People’s Party values and principles.”

Party leader and Jiwaka Governor William Tongamp said: “People’s Party supports women leaders and believes the way to get more women into Parliament is to increase the number of women standing in seats around the country.

“That is why we are proud to support and endorse these four women and that is why People’s Party has a policy to legislate for political parties to amend their constitutions to have 50 percent of their endorsed candidates to be women.”

All four candidates have illustrious careers spanning from business, media, public service, charitable work and advocacy.

Bais took part in last year’s Moresby Northwest byelection under the same party, and said she was looking forward to assisting her sister candidates with her experiences.

She added that she looked forward to standing alongside her party of women candidates for the elections in NCD, and assisting each other in their campaign.

Sir Peter also challenged other political parties to “walk the talk” and endorse women candidates in this coming election.

Thierry Lepani is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s ruling Pangu Pati is entangled in another internal dispute just six months before the issue of writs for the 2022 general election.

This time, the former president of the party, Patrick Pundao, has gone to the National Court to dispute the recent election of the first female party president, Erigere Singin.

The Pangu Pati only recently recovered from similar party infighting.

• READ MORE: Other PNG elections reports

That fighting resulted in prolonged court battles between the parliamentary wing and the party executives that led to then party leader Sam Basil breaking away to form the United Labour Party.

He left behind a small parliamentary team led by deputy party leader and Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu, who then handed over the leadership to current Prime Minister James Marape at the height of the 2019 political impasse.

Punda claimed that the clauses in the party constitution were breached when conducting the national convention that led to the election of Singin as national president in August this year.

Within two months after the election of the national president in August, the Pangu party executive tussle has resurfaced and gone to court.

A court injunction
While it is not related, deputy party leader and Morobe Governor Saonu has also taken out a court injunction against his own Pangu Pati-led government on the Wafi Golpu mining exploration project, an issue that can also create instability in the party and the government as they prepare for the election.

Meanwhile, Pundao in his notice of motion, claimed that the Pangu Pati convention in Port Moresby at the Hilton Hotel on August 27 had breached clauses 18, 20.1 and 20.2 of the party constitution.

Clause 18 relates to the composition of the national convention, which should consist of the members of the council, the parliamentary members, two delegates for a branch and another, as determined by the committee.

According to the party constitution, clause 20.1 related to the procedures that require an eight week notice to be given by the secretary general of the party detailing the time and the venue of the national convention while clause 20.2 states that the chair of the national convention should be the national president but he was not given the opportunity to chair convention as required by law.

He said he was sidelined and the master of ceremony took control of the meeting.

Pundao, in his notice of motion, sought orders to:

• Restrain Singin from holding office as the national president of the Pangu Pati Inc;
• Restrain the Pangu Pati general secretary Morris Tovbae from issuing any Pangu Pati meeting; and
• Stop the office of the Registrar of Political Parties and Candidates Commission from distributing any the constitutional grants to the party.

Justice Ambeng Kandakasi, who presided over the notice of motion, ordered that:

• The pending motion and substantive proceedings are adjourned to November 9, 2021, at 9.30am, for hearing of the motion and directions hearing;
• All parties are required to cooperate and resolve the issues presented in the proceedings within seven days from or by October 26, 2021;
• For the purpose of the meeting under the last preceding order, only those who are qualified by the Pangu Pati Inc constitution shall participate;
• The general secretary of the party shall, if need be, give notice for the special general meeting by October 27, 2021; and
• Time for the entry of these orders is abridged

Pundao said the second order directing parties to meet was expected to be carried out today.

Jeffrey Enapa is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

The Australian government has announced an A$170 million (F$267 million) programme for the Pacific region to strengthen gender equality initiatives over the next five years.

The commitment was revealed by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women Marise Payne during the high-level ministerial session at the 14th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women hosted by French Polynesia this week.

Payne said the programme reflected the importance of strengthening women’s leadership and would complement the work they were already engaged in with bilateral partners on gender and development.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific women summit reports

“We’ll work in partnership with regional organisations and Pacific women’s funds and organisations. It’s a flexible programme designed to respond directly to partners’ needs,” she said.

“We want to build on our successes and learn from our experience. We’ll also focus on women’s rights, on safety, economic empowerment, on women’s health, including sexual and reproductive health.”

The challenges ahead for the Blue Continent included tackling the current pandemic and ensuring a sustainable future for the Pacific region, according to Payne.

“Addressing global challenges such as climate change requires us to use all of our resources and potential – that’s 100 percent of our populations,” she said.

Ensuring women’s safety
“If we ensure women’s economic security, we ensure their safety. We promote their health and wellbeing that’s not only of benefit to women and girls but to their entire communities.

“That’s one of the reasons Australia pivoted our development partnerships to better respond to the unique challenges posed by covid-19 through our partnerships for recovery strategy.”

She said they were working with Pacific partners to strengthen the region’s economic recovery, its health security and stability.

Australia has also partnered with regional stakeholders to deliver safe and effective vaccines as well as vaccine delivery.

These objectives, she said, could not be accomplished without first addressing the structural and cultural barriers that exclude and discriminate against women.

Fiji’s Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa said the triennial conference and subsequent 7th Women’s Ministerial Meeting opening on Tuesday was an opportunity to be inspired, learn and recommit efforts towards accelerating and progress the goal of achieving gender equality through the endorsement of a bold, action-oriented, inclusive and transformative outcomes document.

“This is about reaffirming leadership, commitment along with concrete actions to prevent male violence against all women and girls before it starts,” she said.

Building back better
“It is acknowledging that, our work and efforts must address urgently the intersections between, women’s economic empowerment, unpaid care, safety, leadership, social protection and climate crisis preparedness and resilience.”

Vuniwaqa said recognising that building back better from covid-19 needed all women and girls at the centre, leading, making decisions that served the planet, addressed inequalities, and achieved equal power-sharing.

“It is also about recognising that data and statistics that adequately reflect the lived realities of all women and girls of the Pacific — gender statistics for short — are critical and indispensable tools for developing evidence-based policies, legislation and solutions to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls,” she said.

More than 1000 people participated in the conference, which ends tomorrow and delivered via a blended approach of in-person and virtual interaction given that travel restrictions are still being observed across the region due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The event was organised by the Pacific Community (SPC) with funding support provided by the Australian government and the Spotlight Initiative.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He a participant in the Reporting on Women’s Economic Empowerment workshop organised by the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS) in collaboration with the Pacific Community (SPC).

It feels like every day brings more harrowing claims of harassment, bullying and abuse of women in Australia’s community.

In the space of just two months, we have seen Brittany Higgins’ claims she was raped at parliament, historical rape allegations against Christian Porter (which he denies), staffers performing sex acts on the desks of female MPs, MP Andrew Laming’s harassment of women and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “bullying” of Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate.

Last week, senior Indigenous academics authored an open letter, decrying the lack of public concern and national planning about the violence against First Nations women. Indigenous people are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised for family violence than a non-Indigenous adult.

• READ MORE: No public outrage, no vigils: Australia’s silence at violence against Indigenous women
  

And as Australia marks 30 years since the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, the massive over-representation of Indigenous women in the prison population remains a “national shame”.

There is hope
Many women are understandably feeling traumatised, triggered, overwhelmed and exhausted. And it would be easy to think it is all bad news and nothing is changing.

But there is hope. As a result of what has emerged, we have seen an outpouring of rage from people around Australia who are fed up with the way we treat women and victim-survivors.

As an organiser of the recent March 4 Justice rally in Canberra, I saw firsthand the collective anger and frustration directed at federal parliament and wider society and the thirst for change.

I’m also taking heart from the many Australians — some household names, some less well-known — who are fighting for change and making a difference to gender equality. Here are just nine.

1. Grace Tame
Grace Tame is the 2021 Australian of the Year for her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault. She is a prime example of how one person can make concrete change.

As a teenager, Tame was groomed and sexually abused by her school teacher. But despite his conviction and jailing, she was unable to publicly share her story because of Tasmania’s sexual assault victim gag laws.

Almost a decade later, her experience was a catalyst for the creation of the #LetHerSpeak campaign , which reformed these laws.

Tame is now redefining what it means to be a survivor of abuse. Her focus is on empowering survivors and using education as the primary method of prevention. As she says,

Change is happening and it’s happening right now.

2. Brittany Higgins
Brittany Higgins can arguably be credited as prompting Australia’s second #MeToo wave.

A former Liberal staffer, Higgins came forward in February with allegations she was raped in parliament house by a male colleague. In part, she was inspired by Tame’s call to arms a month earlier.

Higgins’ claims have rocked Australian politics, sparking a fresh focus into its toxic culture. In the weeks since, more allegations of sexism and assault in politics have emerged, with an independent inquiry into parliament house culture now underway.

But Higgins has also ignited the anger of many around Australia, resulting in nationwide protests against sexism and gendered violence. In her speech at the March 4 Justice rally in Canberra, she said,

I came forward with my story to hopefully protect other women.

3. Latoya Aroha Rule
Aroha Rule, a Wiradjuri and Māori Takatāpui person, is an activist and writer.

After their brother Wayne Fella Morrison died in custody, Aroha Rule created the #JusticeforFella campaign and helped organise nationwide protests calling for justice for the hundreds of Aboriginal people who have died in custody.

Around the recent March 4 Justice rallies, Aroha Rule played a pivotal role, drawing attention to the experiences of First Nations women.

As they wrote in The Guardian:

Women’s liberation marches have been growing since the 1960s in Australia, just as the incarceration rates and deaths of Aboriginal women in custody have steadily increased.

They also point out the complexity of experiences and perspectives when it comes to equality, race, gender and sexuality.

4. Stella Donnelly
Stella Donnelly is a singer-songwriter who writes music that critiques rape culture, the patriarchy and Australian politics.

Her first song, “Boys Will Be Boys”, was written about a friend’s sexual assault and released in 2017 during the “first wave” of the #MeToo movement in Australia. It was quickly adopted as an anthem by victim-survivors.

Why was she all alone

Wearing her shirt that low

They said, ‘boys will be boys’

Deaf to the word no

Through a “reel-‘em-in, knock-’em-out” comedic style of lyrics and indie-pop tunes, Donnelly sparks awareness of issues like sexism and sexual assault for a wide audience.

5. Amy McQuire
Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman from Rockhampton, is a journalist, writer and PhD candidate, researching media representations of violence against Aboriginal women.

She is one of a number of younger Indigenous voices who are helping to put First Nations women at the centre of conversations about violence against women and equality.

McQuire has written extensively on Aboriginal deaths in custody and the erasure of Aboriginal women from the mainstream feminist movement and discussions about domestic violence.

If you think Aboriginal women have been silent, it’s only because you haven’t heard us, our voices now hoarse after decades of screaming into the abyss of Australia’s apathy.

She also writes about the racism inherent in violence against Indigenous women.

In Australia, violence was not just used as a tool of patriarchy – it was and is used as a tool of colonialism.

When we talk about eliminating violence against Aboriginal women, we aren’t just talking about individual acts, or solely interpersonal violence. Sexual violence was and is used as a strategy to mark our bodies as acceptable for violation, not just by individuals, but by the forces of the state.

6. Saxon Mullins
In a 2018 Four Corners episode, Mullins told the story of her 2013 sexual assault and the widely publicised trials and appeals that followed.

This generated debate about sexual consent laws and how they differ around the country. The NSW Law Reform Commission then reviewed the section of the Crimes Act that deals with sexual assault and consent (the final report was a disappointment to those wanting comprehensive reforms).

Mullins recently founded the Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy Centre. It aims to prevent sexual violence through reforming consent laws and raising public understanding of consent, healthy relationships and sex education.

As she recently told the ABC’s 7.30 programme:

I have moved into an advocacy position […] this feels like my resolution. This feels like me being able to finish this story how I think it should be finished with real change.

7. Yasmin Poole
Yasmin Poole is a speaker, writer and youth advocate who champions the inclusion of young women, particularly women of colour, in political conversations.

In 2019, she was listed in both the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australians and the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. She was also named The Martin Luther King Jr Center’s 2021 Youth Influencer of the Year.

After the March 4 Justice, Poole criticised Morrison’s comments about the rally — he said protesters in other countries are often “met with bullets” — and the inadequate handling of Higgins’ allegations by the government.

I’m not thankful for not being shot. I’m furious. I am angry that any young woman that desires or aspires to go into politics now will have to think twice.

Poole clearly demonstrates that young women need not wait to speak up about political issues and create societal change. They aren’t simply “future leaders” but, like Poole, are already leading the way.

8. Nicole Lee
Nicole Lee is a family violence and disability activist. As a woman with disability and a survivor of family violence, Lee fights for the rights of survivors who are often excluded from this conversation altogether.

As a member of Victoria’s Victims Survivors Advisory Council, Lee has helped shaped the state’s response to family violence.

We can’t get away from the fact that women with disabilities are vulnerable. Society is slowly changing, but as much as people hate hearing it women are already on the back foot and then you add a disability […] we’re so much further behind.

9. Caitlin Figueiredo
Caitlin Figueiredo is an Anglo-Indian woman, internationally recognised activist and social entrepreneur.

She is the founder and CEO of Jasiri Australia, a youth-led movement that encourages girls to be leaders in their communities, and fights for the increased representation of women in politics through leading the Girls Takeover Parliament program.

As Figueiredo said in 2017:

I want to accelerate change.

Dr Blair Williams, a research fellow, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL), Australian National University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

SPECIAL REPORT: By a Pacnews correspondent

Catherine Mori began her career in the tax domain in 1990.

She started as an auditor with the Revenue and Tax Division, but she held the position of a Revenue Officer III. And in that capacity alone, she was required to perform various tax-related functions.

As a Revenue Officer III, Mori had had to assist customers with their tax returns, input tax roll, and also input income tax, and transmit these to the headquarters in Pohnpei.

• READ MORE: Other reports in the OCO/Pacnews Pacific Women in Customs series

She was also tasked to assist customers with their import transactions, and carry out daily bank deposits, amid other duties. In December this year, Mori will have completed 31 years of service with the organisation.

“I am the oldest female on this job and maybe also in the Department of FSM Finance,” she says.

The merge
At the time Catherine Mori joined the Revenue and Tax Division, the institution operated separately from the Customs Division. And in 1998, the two institutions merged to form the Customs and Tax Administration under the Department of FSM Finance. During that transition, employees of both institutions had to undergo cross trainings in areas of tax revenue and customs.

“That year was a big adjustment for me,” Mori recalls.

The merge meant that aside from her already-hectic work schedule, she also had to carry out an additional role of a Customs official at the island nation’s port of entries.

Underpinned by the lack of manpower, Mori had had to leave her office work aside and attend to inspection and clearance duties, involving cargoes at the airport, the dock and or at the post office.

And to ensure efficiency in productivity, she says she has had to be patient in all areas of her responsibilities.

The leader
Seventeen years of service and commitment with the Customs and Tax Administration paid off for Catherine Mori. In 2007, she was promoted to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary in the administration’s field office in Chuuk State, Micronesia.

Chuuk State is the most populous of the four States in the FSM – including Pohnpei, Yap and Kosrae – which according to the April census of 2010 had 48,654 inhabitants.

As the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mori now plays a more managerial role. She oversees the overall operation of her unit that includes human resources, revenue and customs collection.

“My duties now include overseeing the work of my employees, making sure the post office, the airport as well as the ship port are attained well and cleared,” she says.

“I do monthly reports on all areas of both customs and revenue collections, monthly reports on PC Trade and awareness in the field office.”

She also has to ensure that deposits of collections are maintained and sent to the central office in Pohnpei daily.

Embracing cultural challenges
Mori openly declares her love for what she does and her positive approach to the challenges she faces. But she notes the challenge of conscience between the matter of gender in the workplace and her present cultural landscape.

“I have enjoyed my job all my life, learning to get along with others, learning how to communicate, and experiencing new ideas.

“But overall, my challenge on the job is being the only woman in the position.

“In Chuuk, Micronesia, males are mostly the heads in all departments.

“It was hard for me to speak up, and it was not because I was scared but it is because of our respect for men.”

And it is because of their culture in Micronesia, especially for Chuuk State, that they are still adjusting to the modern way of life.

“Nowadays, because people go out of FSM to the United States or Hawai’i, they have come a long way to understand that women do not only have a place at home but they also have a place in departments and offices.

“Today, I am very happy with my job. I feel free working among many males on the job and getting acquainted with my colleagues.

“I gain more experience working with the male on the job. It helps me to gain more experience in the work I do.”

She adds this has also helped her family understand and support her in her work.

The covid-19 pandemic
This pandemic has adversely impacted the world in many ways, largely on human lives lost and global economic collapses.

Again, Catherine Mori capitalises on her natural ability to take a positive approach and look on the bright side.

Her work schedule has changed significantly, in particular with limited flights and cargo ships.

“For me, this means I have more time to rest and more time to spend with the family. It has helped me to relax and enjoy life.”

This article is part of the OCO/Pacnews Pacific Women in Customs series to celebrate the achievements of women customs officers in the Oceania region.

Australian university leaders are nearly three times more likely to be a man than a woman.

Of 37 public university chancellors, just 10 are women (27 percent) and 27 (73 percent) are men. It’s exactly the same for vice-chancellors: 10 are women and 27 are men.

Together, this means men hold 54 of the 74 top jobs in Australian higher education.

• READ MORE: Most of Australia’s university leaders are white, male and grey. This lack of diversity could be a handicap
  

Last year presented a big opportunity for progress towards gender equity among university leaders. During 2020, vice-chancellors at 15 of Australia’s 37 public universities either announced their departure from the role, or actually left.

This move of 41 percent of the vice-chancellors in a single year provided the best opportunity for improving gender equity in living memory.

Unfortunately, Australian university councils, which appoint vice-chancellors, did not take up the opportunity. The gender ratio didn’t change at all.

To date, women have been appointed in just four of the 15 (27 percent) interim or ongoing replacements made. Two of these four women moved from one vice-chancellor position to another. In 11 of the 15 announced vice-chancellor replacements – 73 percent of cases – a man won the role.

Men also dominate the upper levels of Australian academia. The latest available figures (from 2019) show:

• 86 percent more men than women at associate professor and professor levels D and E (10,363 men, 5,562 women)
• 11 percent more men than women at senior lecturer level C (6,355 men, 5,724 women)
• 25 percent more women than men at lecturer level B (7,428 men, 9,253 women)
• 15 percent more women than men at associate lecturer level A (4,426 men and 5,093 women).

Overall, the numbers of men and women employed as academics aren’t very different. In 2019, Australian universities employed 54,204 full-time and fractional full-time academics: 28,572 men (53 percent) and 25,632 (47 percent) women. It’s the seniority of the positions they hold that differs starkly.

These figures do not include casual staff.

Isn’t the gender balance improving?
Optimists often assure me leadership gender equity is improving. Granted, the percentage of female chancellors in Australian has increased in the past five years. In 2016, WomenCount reported 15 percent of Australian university chancellors were women.

While the increase is positive, it remains disappointing that women occupy only about one-quarter of these increasingly powerful and important roles.

The shift in senior academic ranks has also been slow. In 2009, 73.5 percent of professors were men. Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of female professors has risen from 26.5 percent to 35 percent. That’s an improvement of less than one percentage point per year on average.

At this rate, it will be the late 2030s before women make up half of the professoriate in Australia.

Why does gender inequity persist?
The most common reason put forward for gender inequity is related to women’s role in childbearing. But the fact that only women can grow, birth and breastfeed babies does not, on its own, explain why there are 86 percent more male associate professors and professors than women in these roles, nor why there are nearly three times more male than female vice-chancellors and chancellors.

After all, these womanly activities take a relatively short amount of time and most women I know can skilfully multi-task while pregnant and breastfeeding.

However, the fact that women take on the bulk of child-raising duties might help explain the inequities. Of course, people of every gender can equally well raise children. But they don’t – it’s mostly left to the women.

For women, the results of this unequal sharing of responsibility include:

• less time and energy for academic pursuits
• more teaching (often) and less time for research and publishing
• lower academic and leadership profiles (usually)
• fewer opportunities to engage in activities that count for promotion and for senior leadership roles.

Of course, not all women have children. And those that do find that they grow up, learn to feed, dress and eventually support themselves and move out of home.

Is it also possible that Australian university culture and practices privilege men’s careers and hold back women’s advancement?

University decision-makers, including promotion committees, might well favour men because of:

• relatively uninterrupted and neat career trajectories
• relatively greater freedom to engage in research and publishing without the disadvantages of part-time employment, never mind the mid-afternoon school run
• more easily quantified outputs
• more frequent opportunities to lead
• the cumulative achievements, profile and trajectory that come with all of the above.

Let’s shake up the status quo
Most universities try to redress gender inequity. Committees, agenda items, plans, targets and mentoring programmes abound. But evidently these efforts aren’t working.

After many years in executive and governance leadership, I continue to observe decision-makers often thinking of men first, or only of men, when searching for suitable leadership candidates.

On the rarer occasions that women are offered leadership opportunities, they have to adopt the “right” style and carefully balance gravitas and humility. They must learn how to perform gender judo and ensure they don’t fall into the success versus likeability conundrum that Facebook chief operating officer and author Sheryl Sandberg made famous.

In short, to become academic leaders, women must skilfully navigate the unconscious bias and sexism that permeate universities.

While shifts are occurring, they are painfully slow, as the gender data over the past decade and predicted trajectories show.

Might it be time for women (and enlightened men) to take matters into their own hands to begin to undermine the status quo? I think so – so I’ve written a book that proposes techniques to adopt to these ends.

What will you do to contribute to greater gender equity?

Dr Marcia Devlin is an adjunct professor, Victoria University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Xanana Gusmao’s recent contrived jovial participation in the birthday celebrations of “self-professed” paedophile and defrocked foreign priest Richard Daschbach has shocked many of his supporters, not least his Australian former wife and three Timorese-Australian sons who have publicly condemned the visit and written apologetic letters to the young women who were due to give evidence against Daschbach in court this week.

At the very well-publicised “birthday party” held in the home of a diehard Catholic supporter, Gusmao embraced and hand-fed Daschbach birthday cake, and tipped champagne into his mouth.

The visit has been interpreted as a heavy-handed attempt to whitewash Daschbach’s ruined reputation just before the court case commenced, and intimidate the prosecution, and the young witnesses who are in hiding due to just this sort of pressure.

• READ MORE: Fear still marks the trial of a former priest in Timor-Leste enclave
• More articles on the defrocked paedophile priest case

In blatantly favouring the reputation of an ex-priest over the safety and wellbeing of his alleged victims, these male elites demonstrate a fundamental element of patriarchy defined as: “… a set of social relations between men, which have a material base, and which, through hierarchy, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women”. (Hartmann, 1979, p11).

Why would Gusmao bother?
It can be explained by long-term patriarchal relationships between particular conservative priests and resistance leaders such as Gusmao, and the almighty political, social and spiritual power of the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste to co-opt political leaders.

Gusmao’s visit is said to have been to honour the ex-priest’s role in the struggle for independence. Yet it also has to do with the low status and lack of power of poor young females, orphans with no one to protect them, and the phenomenal combined power of the clergy and the heroes of the resistance – when these patriarchal forces come together in Timor, very few can contest their will.

Yet some are speaking – and have spoken out – including Gusmao’s Australian sons; more progressive clergy; journalists and their professional association; lawyers representing the victims and others from the legal community; the women’s organisations protecting the alleged victims; and ordinary citizens expressing horror on social media, where the topic has been discussed.

This list will continue to grow. These are the new progressive forces in Timor-Leste contesting the power of the old patriarchal forces.

Daschbach has openly confessed more than once to the crimes, and was expelled from the priesthood and Catholic Church after an investigation in 2018. Since then, the justice system in Timor has struggled with prosecuting the case due to the interference of local religious supporters of the ex-priest, and a lack of appetite for arresting and imprisoning a priest.

While the problem is a global one and not well dealt with anywhere, to understand why this has happened in Timor, some appreciation for the particularities of the Catholic Church there is required.

As a Catholic country, with more than 90 percent adherence, the church wields enormous social, political and spiritual power, and priests are revered as God on earth. Daschbach was treated as a “demigod” with “magical abilities” and a “direct line to Christ”.

People still bow down or kneel and kiss the ring of priests to greet them. Others are simply too afraid to speak out for fear of excommunication, and the social, political and spiritual implications of this for themselves and their families.

Due to the Indonesian occupation, the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste remains “wedded to ideas of hierarchy and obedience” largely unaffected by liberal changes introduced by the second Vatican Council.

The deeply conservative church provides the moral and spiritual underpinning of an unequal gender regime. This leads to the significant conservative impact of religious discourses on gender roles and relationships, sex, reproduction, and homosexuality.

A woman activist explains that Catholic priests will not accept “modern” ideas about gender equality, or address sexual abuse and violence: “… they are more inclined to men’s perspectives and […] the patriarchal mentality“.

The church’s religious doctrines heavily influence government policy, leading to a lack of sex education in schools and reproductive healthcare, including the use of condoms as a protective measure to avoid pregnancy and disease, resulting in many avoidable deaths.

The inner circle: The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission
While the Bishop of Dili has urged all Catholics to respect the Vatican’s decision to expel Daschbach, there’s a hardcore group within the church, led by lawyers from the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, who have led his campaign of support.

Commission members even visited the orphanage where the abuse is alleged to have occurred, and spoke to potential victims and witnesses, as well as parents, police, and lawyers.

In a report, they accuse the Timorese judicial and police authorities and organisations that have supported victims of being a “justice-mafia” and, perversely, of “collective sexual abuse” (for conducting medical examinations), “exploitation of underage girls”, and “human trafficking” (for moving them to a safe house).

By disclosing the names of alleged victims, witnesses, and the suspect himself, one local lawyer says they have broken the law. The Archbishop swiftly sacked the president of the commission.

The gender challenge
Gender relations apparent in contemporary Timorese society are the result of complex political and historical circumstances.

The dominance of men in Timorese history and politics, and the legacy of militarisation and conflict with neighbouring Indonesia during the national struggle for independence (1974-1999) are significant issues in contemporary Timorese society that pose enormous challenges for the nation.

As in most post-conflict societies, the effects of militarisation on society have not been adequately dealt with. I have argued that it was this that led to internal violence among the male political leadership resulting in a national crisis in 2006, and shattering of national reconstruction and development.

A tough and brutalised masculinity has significant damaging effects for the young men who try to live up to it, but also others such as the LGBTI community who face persecution and discrimination.

The negative influence of the Catholic Church on attitudes to homosexuality highlights the crucial work needed to combat the solid wall of intolerance built by conservative forces.

A recent secret research report found that young women have a lack of knowledge, choice, and agency in first sexual experiences leading to sexual abuse. Young women were often unaware that their consent was even required for sex.

In another study, between 20 to 30 percent of men admitted to rape, and in another acceptance of public sexual harassment and forced sex was clear. This may be linked to even higher levels of sexual abuse experienced by men. A shocking 42 percent of the men surveyed in 2016 reported being sexually abused before the age 18.

More powerful men
While research data does not yet exist on perpetrators of male victims, it seems likely that more powerful boys or men from within their own families, communities, clubs, schools and churches were the perpetrators.

The patriarchal hierarchies of power within institutional settings must be challenged if vulnerable people, including women and children, are to be protected – and not just in Timorese society.

There is no disputing that Gusmao completed a Herculean task in leading the East Timorese people to independence, and his resolute leadership and bravery will never – nor should ever – be forgotten.

Yet his reputation is being tarnished by such allegiances to the old authoritarian patriarchal order that he once fought against as a young man. Culture is dynamic, and both internal and external progressive forces signal change in Timor-Leste.

Newer progressive forces in Timor contesting older hierarchies of power are in need of support and international solidarity, and supporters of Timor-Leste, and Gusmao in particular, in Australia and other places need to take note.

There are Timorese men working and advocating for an end to violence against women, alongside Timor’s tenacious women’s movement that has worked so hard in this space, but more political leadership on gendered violence is required by the state.

Timor Leste’s extremely youthful population represents a great opportunity for positive change and renewal.

Dr Sara Niner is a lecturer in anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University. This article is republished from Lens Monash under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

New Zealand’s National Party has elected Judith Collins as its new leader to replace Todd Muller, with Gerry Brownlee as her deputy to take on the Labour-led coalition government in the September general election.

Collins, 61, was first elected as an MP for Clevedon in 2002 and has been part of six Parliaments.

“I think it’s really important that we all have a common goal … to get rid of the current government and put in place a better government,” she said after emerging from the caucus meeting.

READ MORE: Muller’s ‘bolt from the blue’ resignation

“One of the things that unifies any party is if they see that we’re getting the results that we want … I think you’re going to find that we’re very focused on winning.

“There is no chance at all that I am going to allow … [Prime Minister Jacinda] Ardern to get away with any nonsense to do with our economy. I am going to hold her to account.

“I would say experience, toughness, the ability to make decisions … that would be myself. Jacinda Ardern is someone we should not ever underestimate.”

“We’re actually better. If you look at our team, our experience … it’s all better than Jacinda Ardern and her team.”

No major changes
She said the party’s policies would not see any major changes.

Collins, the MP for Papakura has been the shadow Attorney-General since May and holds the National Party’s spokesperson roles for several areas, including Economic Development, Regional Development and Pike River Re-Entry.

She has previously been the minister for ACC, Corrections, energy and resources, ethnic affairs, ethnic communities, justice, police, revenue and veterans’ affairs.

According to her National Party profile, she holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws with Honours and a Master of Taxation Studies from the University of Auckland and was a lawyer and company director before being elected to parliament.

Brownlee said he was there to support Collins “and the rest of the team and that’s what I’ll be doing”.

He ruled out ever wanting the leadership.

Consideration for Muller
Collins replaces Todd Muller, who resigned this morning, saying it had become clear he was not the best person for the job.

Brownlee offered his sympathies.

“I just was devastated for Todd Muller and his family, I found Todd a wonderful person to work with … I’m sure he will continue to be just that.”

The party would continue to support Muller in what was a difficult time, Collins said. She said it was important that National MPs had no further distractions before the election.

History with scandal or controversy

• Dirty Politics 2014: She was accused of leaking information to her friend and right-wing blogger Cameron Slater in the book Dirty Politics. She resigned from Cabinet after allegations she tried to undermine the Serious Fraud Office director. An inquiry cleared her of wrongdoing. She was reinstated in 2015.
• Oravida 2014: She visited the Shanghai offices of Oravida, of which her husband is a director, while on a taxpayer-funded trip. The company used her photo as a product endorsement.
• Wetlands comments 2014: It emerged swamp kauri had been stockpiled in Northland under the name Oravida Kauri, another business linked to Oravida and Ms Collins’ husband. She outraged environmentalists by telling a reporter she did not care, saying, “Am I the Minister of Wetlands?”
• Brownlee was among former National ministers forced to defend the activities of private investigators under their watch after it emerged insurer Southern Response broke its code of conduct when it used security firm Thompson and Clark to secretly record meetings of earthquake victims. As former Earthquake Recovery Minister Brownlee took issue with the report, saying it used “inflammatory language that’s designed to make the big cost of it more palatable.”

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Seventeen women journalists from the Asia-Pacific region gathered in the Victorian capital of Melbourne this week to work on an empowerment strategy for reporting on gender-based violence against women.

Organised by the Canadian-based Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), the workshop on gender-based violence against women (GBVAW) at Monash University was a key step toward ensuring better collaboration with the media.

The media plays a vital role in influencing the attitudes toward gender-based violence, especially in environments where the development of women and girls is overlooked.

Within the Asia-Pacific region, a common thread is the vulnerability of women and girls in the face of gender inequality and sociocultural norms identified by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).

From Papua New Guinea to the Philippines, putting gender-based violence into context remains a challenge in terms of recognising women’s rights as human rights.

The Rutgers University-based centre has been instrumental in raising awareness of the issue through its 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.

It has recognised the need for journalists in different spaces to be well informed and equipped on covering the issue.

Support needed
The centre says journalists need support when it comes to reporting challenges such as data, resources and logistics, newsroom culture, and state accountability.

Throughout the two-day workshop, journalists shared their experiences in reporting gender-based violence against women and highlighted the gaps that could be filled in their countries.

News framing of survivors was stressed as essential toward changing a culture of victim-blaming.

Women journalists themselves are vulnerable when covering stories on gender-based violence.

Although strategies on improving gender-based violence coverage are still a work in progress, the centre’s workshop provided a needed forum for Asia-Pacific journalists.

Papua New Guinean television journalist Quintina Naime found suggestions in the workshop about improving reporting on gender-based violence especially helpful.

Passionate reporting
“Coming from a country with diverse cultures and where domestic violence has become a norm, I’m privileged to have met other influential female journalists who are passionate about reporting on gender-based violence issues affecting the most vulnerable in society,” she says.

“I’m encouraged that my contribution will contribute to the professional development and networking opportunities of journalists reporting on the issues. I’m privileged to have represented Papua New Guinea and PNGTV.”

Other countries represented in the consultation were Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines and Samoa.

The centre will continue to convene with journalists from other regions to improve reporting of gender-based violence against women and to hopefully change attitudes.

The centre has already hosted workshops in the South Asia and Middle East regions.

It is hoped that the dialogue emerging from all these workshops will help develop a tool or guideline that will assist journalists in tackling the issues.

Pauline Mago-King is a masters student at Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre researching gender-based violence issues in Papua New Guinea. She was a participant in the gender-based violence against women workshop.