Papua New Guinea Child Welfare and Protection Law Reform in Papua New Guinea: A Critique

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The issues of child welfare and their protection from physical violence as well as from social, emotional and psychological detriment continue to be issues of national concern in Papua New Guinea. The difficult social and economic context of being a child in the country today cannot be overstressed. There is still no government policy regarding the family or child. There is equally no government or official statement on the state of families and no data on the number or incidence of de facto families or even the number of children in the country. The last census was conducted in 2011. According to these figures, the total population of the country was 7,275,324. Of this, there was a total of 3,067,419 citizen persons under the age of 18 years, representing 42.3 per cent of the total population. That is seven years ago, meaning that the youngest, i.e. those born in 2011, would be seven years of age this year (2018). There is presently no relevant social demographic information concerning such matters as population groups, the number of families based on marriage, families based on de facto relationships, and births and deaths. However, while this information is difficult to ascertain, the incidence of child maltreatment continues unabated and is increasing. If the high incidence of physical and sexual violations against children, especially young girls, reported by the daily newspapers is any indication, such violations must be reaching crisis proportions. In a recent report for example, the Metropolitan Superintendent of Police of the nation's capital, Port Moresby, is reported as saying that despite the awareness against such crimes, they continue to be committed and increasing against children ‘especially against teenage girls ’.

Until very recently, the government response over the years since independence to the need to provide for children and protect them from harm and abuse has largely been a failure. Compared to changes in many other areas of the law in the country since independence in 1975, reform in the laws relating to family matters generally, including child welfare and protection in particular, have continued to receive little to no serious attention from the legislature.