Reference :
V-P-PG-E-00204
Date :
27/10/2016
Caption :
Southern Highlands Province, chapel. Sister Patricia Kuame, from the franciscan sisters of Mary, and her fellow catholic nuns use their position to encourage communities to avoid fighting and to prevent the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website, photo gallery "Lives lost, futures destroyed: Stories from Papua New Guinea’s tribal wars", 29 May 2017
"Sister Patricia Kuame, from the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, at a chapel in Southern Highlands Province. Sister Patricia and her fellow Catholic nuns use their position to encourage communities to avoid fighting and to prevent the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. “I’ve heard many stories of women being raped during fighting. They sometimes cross the boundary into enemy land, to collect firewood or mushrooms, and that’s when they are vulnerable. Men rape women during tribal fights because they want to release their anger. Women are the backbone of men, so that’s why enemies want to destroy the women. We are trying to prevent this sexual violence through word of mouth.”
Home to some of the remotest communities in the world, the Papua New Guinea Highlands is a region of breathtaking, untouched beauty. However, these spectacular hills and valleys also harbor a disturbing reality: across the Highlands, tribal communities are at war. Vicious conflicts – over land, resources and other grievances – lead to thousands of displacements each year and rob families of their lives and livelihoods.
In Papua New Guinea's modern-day conflicts, no-one is spared from the fight – anyone or anything is a target – and tragically this includes women and children. Here, people caught up in these tribal disputes, share their stories, illustrating the serious, ongoing humanitarian impact of Papua New Guinea's chronic tribal wars."
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5616x3744
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
