A United Nationsstudy of 10, 000 men acrossthe Asia Pacific region have found that one in every five men acrossthe Asia Pacific region has committed rape.
The findings were published on Tuesday in Bengkok bythe United Nations
Findings ofthe report were also published inthe Medical Journal –The Lancet Global Health.
ThPNG component ofthe study was conducted in Bougainville. There, researchers found thatthe level of impunity amongstthe perpetrators of sexual violence was very high, with only two thirds ofthem being arrested and only half ofthem being sent to prison.
Acrossthe region, about half ofthe men surveyed believed that men had a right to have sex with women regardless of consent.
The study found that men begin perpetrating sexual violence at an earlier age than previously thought. It found that one out every five men interviewed in Bougainville admitted to have committed rape whilst underthe age of 14.
The researchers now believe that giventhe early age at which men are perpetrating sexual violence, programs and policies aimed at addressing gender violence have to be target at boys and girls.
These shocking revelations now highlightthe urgency for Parliament andthe Department of Justice and Attorney General to deliverthe Family Protection Bell – a piece of legislation that aims to protect vulnerable women withinthe community.
Earlier this year Ume Waineti fromthe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee revealed atthe Australia National University in Canberra that half of all women in PNG have experienced sexual violence, and seven out of every ten women have been subject to ther forms of physical violence.
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