“Yu meri ya, yu no man.” - This is by far one of the most limiting sentences thrust at generations of Papua New Guinean women once or more in their lifetime.

Papua New Guinea is known to the world for a number of reasons and politics in PNG is most certainly one of them. Take for instance the “political crisis” of the government of the day which made headlines in ABC news Australia, Radio NZ, The Guardian.com, Asia Pacific Report and the list continues!

In a country of more than 800 languages which consist of wide multi-ethnic societies in which 75% of them are of the patrilineal system, the majority of views and perceptions lean more in favour of our male counterparts than the females. In fact former 3-term Member for Moresby South Dame Carol Kidu remarks about PNG women (in leadership) saying; "Women are powerful in the private sphere, very powerful, but that power was not translated into the public sphere, where the men took the power."

Currently in the PNG government there is no woman MP or representative in the parliament. Whether this is the reason for political turmoil, confused leadership and rise of women related issues -such as inequality, domestic violence and sorcery-related attacks- is out of the question as the real question need to be asked is “What are the barriers to Women’s Leadership in PNG?”

Adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management CEO of Andrews Research International Dr Shawn Andrewsmade clear multiple barriers that barricade women’s opportunity in leadershipranging from structural barriers, institutional mindsets, individual mindsets and lifestyle choices.

In Papua New Guinea’s case, the two barriers that seem more resonate are the societal structure-which can fall into the category of lifestyle choices as Andrews put it- and the election process in Papua New Guinea.

There are two main societal structures in PNG which are the patrilineal society and the matrilineal society in which ownership rights are passed down from male or female lineage respectively.

While PNG could be described as an egalitarian society because few of its many tribal cultures had hereditary chiefs, the society is basically patriarchal with men having higher status than women, Global Security. Org argues that patrilineal societies account for 75 per cent of PNG’s population.

In the traditional leadership context, a leader was to be made known through the chieftainship system, hierarchical system or by inheritance. In today’s leadership context, the Westminster system of government dictates our political governance system.

Due to the major patriarchal influences that remain dominant in PNG, women are not preferred for leadership roles in many societies because of tradition and stereotypes concerning women’s place in society. This mindset will not go away easily.

Just like the mindset that males are the breadwinners of the families and women are the home-makers and child-rears.

In her speech made in 2016 titled PNG Women in Leadership, UPNG’s School of Humanities Executive and Social Sciences Executive Dean Professor Betty Lovai explained that PNG is so diverse, and gender equality challenges the cultural mindsets and power structures in our social systems. Culture influences the political environment, such as through the existence of public meeting places at the local and village levels where women are not directly engaged in decision-making. Another instance is the 22 reserved seats for women which was proposed in 2011 but never revived after that.

What’s fascinating is that even though Papua New Guinean women make up more than half of the country’s population, still 45 years after independence and 9 national elections later, only 7 women have been elected into the National Parliament. This then brings me to the second major barrier to women’s leadership in the country of Papua New Guinea.

The general elections of PNG seem to be by far one of the most expensive if you are a contesting candidate. Apart from the nomination fee and other legally required fees, the candidates have to play with a ton of cash in making sure their votes are secured. That is a fact no politician or an individual of the general public can deny and it has become somewhat of a norm.

Even though PNG’s Electoral Commission promises for a free, fair and safe election, the outcome is not so of the promise most of the times. “Violence against women in elections (VAWE) occurs throughout PNG with regional variation but is most prevalent throughout the Highlands region, where elections are notably more violent and entrenched cultural norms reinforce the highly patriarchal society.

More so, a 2019 an International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) assessment proved that in this region, VAWE occurs in both the public and private spheres with female voters facing direct threats of violence at the polls and threats and acts of domestic violence, including threats of divorce and abandonment, used to reinforce family voting, while female candidates face intense gossip, scrutiny into their personal lives and sexual histories and direct threats to themselves and their families.

If this were not the case the country might have a fair representation of both male and female and development ideas would have a balance. For example “men probably look at development in a physical way, whereas women would look at it more in the sense of social, emotional and bringing up family.

Past governments have contributed to ensuring Gender Equality in leadership and other aspects in PNG through creating policies and enabling acts although that has not done much justice as it is evident that this issue will take time to take root. While our Constitution upholds equality, it simultaneously prioritizes culture. What we can do to address inequality of women’s leadership is to engage local NGO’s in projects (some of which prove the status quo wrong) which will help in sensitizing the minds of our young men and women. This in turn will allow women and girls the opportunity to lead healthy, safe, and productive lives so that we can have greater economic growth and create stronger societies.

BY Amanda Kundil