Thursday 31 May 2012

An abusive relationship is better than stigmatisation

Who in their right mind would disallow a young female child from continuing their education at a very tender age of 13 years,  knowing full well that the opportunities for education are first of all;
scarse in the remote areas of Papua New Guinea; education is more of a priviledge than obligation.
That is, even in todays modern context we as Papua New Guineans are priviledged to have an education, due to the governments lack of services to rural areas and in accessibility.
Female children, when born into a family, are marginalised because they are girls and the male child is allowed to continue his education and become the future leader.
While absorbing all the above factors, I shall continue to tell you my story.
This week, I learnt from a women currently studying at an institution in Madang, that she disallowed a young girl to continue her primary education. The young girl was a student who attended a school in the Western province at which the woman is the current deputy headmistress.
Anyhow, the headmistress was asked to deal with a student who had missed a couple of days of school. When the female student had finally come into see the headmistress, she came to the meeting with her father to explain her situation.
The headmistess, Ruth George, began her interogation of Mary Samuel. Mary came to school badly beaten and had a black eye. Mrs George asked Mary who had beaten her. Mary's father immediately pipped up saying that he wasnt the perportrator.
Mrs George immediately asked Mary who had beaten her again. Mary lowered her head in shame and remorse and tried to find the right words to explain to the Mrs George what had happened.
"My boyfriend belted me up," Mary said.
Mrs George was taken aback at the confession that she had just heard and she continued to listened as Mary began to tell of her situation. 
Mary was only 13, she had also just found out that she was pregnant and the boyfriend had beaten her for reasons unknown.
It turned out that Mrs George had decided to terminate the student from continuing her education, simply basing her decision on the stigmatisation of the school students and the small community at Oktedi Mining, in Tabubil, Western province. Mrs George told Mary that her classmates no longer wanted a pregnant girl to attend school with them. She also told Mary that it was her fault that she had got herself into such a situation and that through her wreckless behaviour, that she got pregnant and had unsafe sex. It was also her fault that she was now in an abusive relationship. Is this the kind of attitude we want to have towards our young girls. In parts of Africa, childhood marriages have been a long practiced tradition, and is slowly coming to an end because of the wonderful work of Child Rights activists to stop such a practise. Papua New Guinea is a free and democratic country where we are free to exercise our rights without fear. Or are we? Mrs George was happy to let Mary leave school, and go back to her abusive relationship.
Whats wrong with this pictutre? Several things.
As an educated woman and the head of a primary school from a rural setting. Mrs George has not only, violated some of the clauses of the Lukautim Pikinini Act,she has further marginalised the young girl, depriving her of the right to a better future.
Mrs George has indirectly told Mary that she is better off in an abusive relationship, than have an attempt at rebuilding her life.

2 comments:

  1. I am 2 years late in reading this story but its a topic that is very close to my heart.
    I will never understand or find reasons to justify terminating a teenage pregnant girl from school, especially in PNG, and most especially as a woman myself, growing up in PNG.

    I believe in empowerment, I really believe that to bring PNG forward eveybody should have basic education and EVERYBODY should be given a chance to continue studies if they feel they need to.
    I still don't know how, we can talk about the development of Papua New Guineans, when we deliberately keep our people from one of the most basic ingredients to development; EDUCATION.

    Underage pregnancy is not a parent's problem, or the girl's problem, it is a social problem. The children born from underage pregnancy are society's problem, because the way things are going with stigmatization and termination of girls in this situation, all we are doing is breeding problems.
    EDUCATE a woman, you educate a Nation. Do people not come from women?

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