ABUSE OF GIRLS AT SCHOOL

It is said that a school is a microcosm of the wider community.

The values of the community creep into the school. It is never

more true in the schools of Papua New Guinea. In the country

there is an attitude that men have authority over women. That

becomes a prime value in schools of this country, more so in

the highlands.

Planti boi i stat long paitim meri long haus. Ol i save lukim papa

i paitim mama bikos kaikai i no rere. Pikinini boi i skelim na i ting

paitim meri em wok bilong ol man.

There can be bullying and discrimination by the boys against girls.

In one rural school, the students would study at night in classrooms

and then return to their dormitories.

Orait ol i kam long skul we ol boi na gel i slip long nait na ol boi i

stat long bosim ol meri. Ol i mekim planti meri i pret long tok kros

 long wanpela boi.

There was the attitude among boys that any girl found outside after

lights out could be raped. So the girls would scurry back to their

security fenced dormitory like frightened rabbits. And stay there

until morning.

Long wanpela skul long Morobe provins, ol boi i gat tingting olsem

sapos ol boi i painim wanpela meri i stap ausait long haus slip long

biknait, ol boi i gat rait long paulim em.

There have been incidents in this country of gangs of men breaking

into girl’s dormitories and raping female students. There is usually

a report that several were male students raping their class girls.

Long taim bipo yumi ritim ol ripot long niuspepa long sampela lain

man i kalapim banis bilong haus slip bilong ol skul meri na paulim

planti. Sampela ol boi bilong skul i go wantaim ol man.

On Sunday nights in one school, boys and girls gathered in the mess

to watch TV. One girl was sexually assaulted by the boys. So the

headmaster banned girls from coming for TV. From that time, only

boys watched in the mess. What a foolish message the headmaster

was giving the boys.

Long wanpela skul ol student i save go long haus kaikai long Sunday

nait long lukim TV. Wanpela nait ol boi i paulim wanpela meri. Hetmasta

i mekim wanem tru? Em i stapim ol meri long lukim TV long Sunday. Ol

boi tasol. Wanem kain pipia tingting bilong hetmasta?

It was amazing to watch the behaviour of the prefects. There was a head

boy and head girl. And the head boy would order the head girl around as

if she were his house meri or wife. It has to be said that these rural high

schools were training places for husbands abusing their wives.

Long olgeta skul ol boi na gel i kisim ples olsem prefect. Tasol planti boi

i wok long bosim ol prefect meri olsem ol i wok meri bilong ol. Ol tisa

i no wari tumas. Ol man tisa i ting olsem bosim meri em pasin tru bilong

ol boi.

The report has been made of the teacher at Busu High School who made

students in his class sit boy-girl-boy-girl. By the end of the year both the

boys and girls were friends and worked together in class. The teacher has

done wonders for many boys in their marriage relationships. They had

experience in respecting girls and treating them as equals.

In a Catholic High School on the north coast years ago, students would sit

boy-girl-boy-girl. At break time, the boys would stand and allow the girls

to depart from the classroom first and to come into the classroom first.

I gat wanpela ripot i kamap long wanpela Katolik skul olsem ol student i

sindaun long klas boi-gel-boi-gel. Taim bilong malolo, ol student i sanap

long klas na ol gel i go aut paslain.

There needs to be that training for buses or Public Motor Vehicles in PNG.

Men crowd  on and push women or girls aside. To be fair, no woman ever

stands on a bus. They are always offered a seat by a man. Women never

stand in a bus as they fear that a man will stand beside and fondle their

breasts.

At another school it was time to elect the school captain and vice captain.

As deputy principal, I organized nominations. It took a while to understand 

that no girl nominated for the top job. Boys were school captains. The girls
were always number two to the boys.

Long narapela skul em i taim bilong ileksen bilong Studen Representative

Council. Ol meri i pret long sanap long eleksen bilong kamap skul kapten.

Long dispela skul Kapten em rait bilong ol boi. Ol meri i pret long sanap.

Ol bai sanap long Vice-Kapten tasol.

Private advice was that if a girl were school captain, there would be a riot

among the boys who would demand a recount. They would flatly refuse to

recognize a girl as school captain. There would be violence against any girl

who nominated.

We hear of violence against the women in the national HIV/AIDS response.

We hear of rights of women. But we are not to know that breeding grounds

for violence towards women is in family and school. The national HIV/AIDS

response is giving relationships training for boy and girl students in schools.

Long PNG yumi harim tok olsem ol meri i gat rait. Tasol pasin bilong paitim

meri i stat long famili na viles na i go het long skul. Planti skul i soim olgeta

boi olsem ol i bos na ol gel i stap daunbilo long ol boi.

What abuse is directed against school girls?

Schools are like gaols. Violence and abuse has to be hidden from teachers.

Those students who report on such conduct from the boys will be bashed

at a later time.

Violence and abuse occurs mainly in boarding high schools where the girls

move daily between the dormitory, mess and classrooms. They study in
the classrooms at night and have to be in thedormitories safe from attack
by troublemaking men, boys and outsiders.

In many schools, boys and girls are separated from one another. They

sleep in different dormitories. They sit in gender order in classrooms,

TV shows in the mess and in the school church.

In many schools, there are no programs that promote boys and girls

working together. Even the Student Representative Council may be

stacked with boys in the executive positions.

Sampela ol skul bilong bus we ol student i slip long nait i wankain olsem  
kalabus. Ol yangpela boi i bosim ol student meri na i haitim pasin bilong

ol. Sapos meri i ripot ol bai kisim taim bihain long han bilong ol boi.

Long kain hai skul ol boi na gel i slip long ol haus bilong lain bilong ol
yet. Ol i stadi long klas rum long nait na kaikai long ol longpela tebol
long haus kaikai bilong skul.

Long planti skul ol boi na gel i no stap gut wantaim. Ol boi is tap long

klas wantaim narapela boi. Ol gel i stap wantaim gel. Sapos ol i sindaun

long lukim TV long nait, ol boi i stap long wanpela sait na ol gel i sindaun

long hapsait.

Stadi long klas i no stap wantaim ol boi na gel wantaim. Nogat. Ol boi

i stadi wantaim ol boi yet. Ol gel i stadi wantaim ol gel yet.

Why are school boys violent to school girls?

Schools continue violence of the home. Many boys come from violent

homes where fathers beat their wives and daughters. Boys grow up

to think they have authority over girls. This can be continued in the

schools.

Planti boi i bosim na paitim ol gel long skul. Pasin bilong famili i bilong

ol man na boi i paitim ol meri na gel. Dispela pasin i go kamap long

planti skul. Ol boi i ting olsem ol i bos na ol meri i stap aninit long ol.

Em i ples we ol boi i mekim rere long paitim meri em i maritim long
taim bihain.

How can relationships of boys/girls be improved?

Schools can carry out many simple steps. They can teach the equality
of men and woman. The boys and girls can sit together in class.

Programs can include boys and girls working together. Schools can have

discos to enable boys and girls to come together in supervised activirties.

Gutpela sapos ol skul i wokim ol program long halivim ol boi long wok

wantaim ol gel. Long wan wan skul ol boi na gel i sindaun wantaim long

klas – boi-gel-boi-gel. Em i gutpela pasin. Tupela lain inap wok wantaim

na lainim ol we bilong rispekt na toktok.