IB2019/2 Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 1 Accessing Justice

A pilot study was undertaken in Lae, the second-largest urban centre in PNG, over six months in 2018 to examine the uptake and efficacy of family protection orders (FPOs). With the support of the Morobe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) and assistance from a family and sexual violence case management centre, Femili PNG, the study involved consultations and interviews with more than 50 professional stakeholders (mainly in the legal, policing and welfare sectors) and interviews with 14 women survivors. The study drew on more than three years of de-identified client data from Femili PNG, district court statistics on orders in 2017 and for a five-month period in 2018, a sample of police prosecution files and observations at the district court and the polices Family and Sexual Violence Unit. The results of the study are detailed in a report (Putt et al. 2019) and summarised in three In Briefs. Part 1 focuses on whether there are improvements in DFV victims access to justice through the introduction of protection orders. Part 2 examines whether the orders have contributed to victims being or feeling safer. Part 3 identifies the factors that were found to affect the accessibility and effectiveness of the orders.