Gender, social change and inclusion
Our research in this area seeks to understand transformations in social and cultural landscapes and gender identities in the Pacific, and what they mean for politics, security, and more inclusive development outcomes.
Subtopics within this program of research include:
Women’s leadership and political participation
Across the Pacific, women continue to be grossly under-represented in decision-making at all levels. The degree to which women are under-represented in Pacific legislatures is more pronounced than anywhere else in the world, and finding ways to improve support for women to perform successfully in Pacific elections remains a major policy challenge. DPA scholars have generated a significant body of research concerning women’s leadership and political participation across the region, which has directly informed policy development. Through the PRP we are continuing to investigate women’s leadership at various levels and in a range of sectors to draw lessons for policymakers and program designers seeking to improve women’s leadership and participation in political processes throughout the Pacific.
Women’s economic empowerment
We are investigating the effectiveness and impact of various economic empowerment initiatives for women in the Pacific. Addressing women’s economic opportunities and agency in the context of other dimensions of their lives, including their familial situation, is crucial. Approaching the task of improving women’s economic opportunities and agency in isolation can limit the overall gains in this policy area. For example, our research has shown that women are increasingly responsible for income earning without any reduction in unpaid caring and household work. To be successful, interventions intended to enhance women’s economic inclusion and empowerment need to be well-informed and carefully planned, monitored and reviewed. Through our research we are working closely with development partners to collate and assess evidence regarding the constraints and enablers of women’s economic empowerment.
Ending violence against women and girls
Ending violence against women and girls is a vital developmental challenge for Pacific Island countries, with several country studies having documented high levels of violence against women. The problem is particularly acute in Melanesian countries. Responding to endemic levels of violence against women, many Pacific Island countries, in association with bilateral and multilateral partners, have embarked on legislative reform. Approaches to prevention, however, are less well-developed, and there is increasing recognition of the importance of community-based approaches to prevention. Through our research we are seeking to understand the drivers of violence and how to mitigate it.
Family protection orders in the Pacific region - Report from a symposium held in December 2021
On 9 December 2021, the Pacific Community (SPC) and The Australian National University (ANU) co-convened a virtual ‘Symposium on family protection orders in the Pacific region’. The symposium brought together...
IB 2022/04 Intractable Barriers to Women’s Election in Tonga
In this In Brief the authors consider lessons learned in the aftermath of women candidates’ defeat in the 18 November 2021 general election. They identify five intractable barriers to women’s election in Tonga:...
IB 2022/05 Women’s Candidate Training in the COVID Era: The 2021 Tonga Election
In late November 2021, 38,500 electors went to the polls across the 36 inhabited islands of Tonga. None of the women who stood for election were successful. In this In Brief the authors consider the mode of delivery...
IB 2022/01 Electing the First Woman to the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia
This In Brief discusses gender politics in contemporary Federated States of Micronesia and the one instance of how a woman candidate was able to win a place in the Congress. To understand women’s exclusion from...
IB 2021/18 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG – Part 8: Responses to Prevent Sorcery Accusation Turning to Violence — Reporting from the SARV Incident Database
This In Brief is the final part in a series presenting findings from a multi-year study of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in PNG in four hotspot provinces — Enga, The Autonomous Region of Bougainville (...
IB 2021/16 The Controversial Use of the Gender Quota in the 2021 Samoan General Election: A Personal Perspective – Part 1
The first of this two-part In Brief series outlines the events that followed the 2021 Samoan general election and contextualises them in terms of gender norms in Samoa. Part 2 describes the gender quota that was...
IB 2021/17 The Controversial Use of the Gender Quota in the 2021 Samoan General Election: A Personal Perspective – Part 2
The 2021 general election in Samoa was followed by a series of controversial events, including the use of the gender quota as a strategy for the incumbent government to hold onto power. The first In Brief of this two...
Helping Family and Sexual Violence Survivors in Papua New Guinea: Evaluation of Femili PNG, Lae Operations 2014-2020
The key evaluation questions covered whether the Lae operations of Femili PNG was achieving the organisation’s four strategic priorities, which relate to service delivery and organisational resilience, and the impact...
IB 2021/15 Domestic Violence in Papua New Guinea: A Case Study from Boroko District Court, Port Moresby
In May 2021, in PNG’s national parliament, a special parliamentary committee on gender-based violence conducted public hearings and invited submissions to gain evidence on the breadth of the problems and positive...
IB 2021/05 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG Part 5: Incidents and Victims
This is the fifth In Brief in a series presenting findings from a multi-year study of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In 2017, the first In Brief of the series described the two...
IB 2021/06 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG Part 6: Catalysts of Accusation and Violence
This is the sixth In Brief on the findings from a quantitative analysis of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The authors report on an incident database of recorded SARV cases (...
IB 2021/07 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG Part 7: The Harm of SARV
This is the seventh In Brief in a series presenting findings from a multi-year study of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This In Brief reports on the various dimensions of harm...
Family Protection Orders in Papua New Guinea - Main Report
The aim of the research project on which this report is based, was to investigate whether the family protection orders (FPOs) introduced under the Family Protection Act 2013 (FPA) were being accessed by, and...
Family Protection Orders in Papua New Guinea: Summary Report
The aim of the research project on which this summary report is based, was to investigate whether the family protection orders (FPOs) introduced under the Family Protection Act 2013 (FPA) were being accessed by, and...
Family Protection Orders: Court Processes in Papua New Guinea
This report outlines some findings and observations about how courts in Papua New Guinea (PNG) handle the family protection orders (FPOs) introduced under the Family Protection Act 2013. It is based on direct...
Domestic Violence and Family Law in Papua New Guinea
This paper arose from a research project on family protection orders (FPOs) in Papua New Guinea (PNG), during which it became apparent that many matters being brought to the police and courts involved both domestic...
Domestic violence, the law and related services in Papua New Guinea: A survey of young adults in Port Moresby and Lae
A survey of young adults was conducted in Port Moresby and Lae towards the end of 2019 and in early 2020 as part of a larger study on the use and efficacy of family protection orders (FPOs) as a key response to...
IB 2021/04 Political Economy Analysis in Supporting Women’s Electoral Candidacy: Lessons from Nauru
With elections expected in Samoa and Tonga in 2021, and Papua New Guinea in 2022, development partners will have already turned their attention to women’s inclusion in those electoral processes as a means by which to...
IB 2021/01 Political Leadership in Papua New Guinea: Three Women Parliamentarians Defeated in the 2017 Election: Part One
The three women parliamentarians who were elected in the 2012 Papua New Guinea (PNG) election failed to win re-election in the 2017 general election. Their electoral defeats only deepen the concern for gender...
IB 2021/02 Political Leadership in Papua New Guinea: Three Women Parliamentarians Defeated in the 2017 Election: Part Two
This is the second In Brief in a two-part series. Part 1 detailed the circumstances surrounding the unsuccessful re-election of three women members of parliament (MPs) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In this second part I...
IB 2020/25 Lusim Hanmak: Why Women Candidates in Papua New Guinea Need to Start Early
Among Papua New Guineans, it is common practice for intending candidates to do their groundwork, known locally as ‘doing awareness’ or lusim hanmak,1 months before the official election period. Hanmak, in the context...
IB 2020/23 Sexual Violence Against Children in Papua New Guinea: What the Criminal Justice Data Tells Us
Sexual violence against children is a fraught, sensitive subject that is extremely difficult to raise without potentially causing further harm. As such, only a minority of incidents are reported to police. Still,...
Women’s economic empowerment among coffee smallholders in Papua New Guinea
Women’s economic empowerment is an important component of the Australian Government’s aid policy and programming in the Pacific. There is a critical need for research to provide an understanding of the challenges to...
PB 2020/01 Mentoring to Support Women’s Leadership
Mentoring has become an increasingly common form of assistance used by development partners to support women’s leadership in Pacific Island contexts. This Policy Brief highlights the need for mentoring programs to be...
Reporting, Investigating and Prosecuting Family and Sexual Violence Offences in Papua New Guinea
This report presents findings of research conducted between June and October 2019 by a small team from the Australian National University (ANU), with the assistance of researchers based in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The...
IB 2020/11 The 2020 Vanuatu Elections: How Did Women Fare?
In the Vanuatu national elections held on 19 March 2020, voters elected their third consecutive all-male parliament. Across 10 of Vanuatu’s 18 constituencies, only 18 women contested the elections and were...
IB 2020/01 Widows and Wives in Pacific Politics: A Reliable Pathway for Women?
Understanding women’s pathways to political leadership remains a critical area of academic and public policy focus in the Pacific. In this In Brief, Baker and Palmieri consider an alternate and potentially rather ‘...
IB 2019/27 Attitudes Towards Women’s Political Participation in Solomon Islands
The ANU’s Department of Pacific Affairs ran a large-scale election observation exercise in Solomon Islands prior to, during and following national elections held on 3 April 2019. Observations were conducted in 15 of...
DP 2019/04 The Long Road to Becoming a Parliamentarian in Samoa: Political Apprenticeship, Learning New Language and Pushing Gender Boundaries
In this Discussion Paper, Hon. Ali‘imalemanu Alofa Tuuau tells her story of becoming a member of the National Legislative Assembly in Samoa in 2016. Samoa ranks 166th out of 191 in global rankings on women’s...
IB 2019/23 Understanding Gender Relations in PNG after Decades of Activism — A Personal Perspective, Part 2
In many cultural settings in Melanesian societies, politics is for the men. How can we challenge an entrenched political culture that restricts the degree to which women are able to play leadership roles and take...
IB 2019/22 Becoming a Grassroots Activist in PNG: Leading from Behind — A Personal Perspective, Part 1
In this In Brief, Sarah discusses some of her early grassroots activities and education, which not only helped her become the active citizen she is today but also the things that helped many women to become strong...
IB 2019/18 Women’s Candidacy and the Power of Incumbency in the 2019 Solomon Islands Election
The 2019 Solomon Islands election marked the first time in the country’s history that two women were elected to parliament in a general election. Lanelle Tanangada, who had been elected in the 2018 by-election for...
DP 2019/01 Effective Support for Women’s Leadership in the Pacific: Lessons from the Evidence
Improving women’s leadership prospects in the Pacific is a priority for development organisations – but, after years of efforts to understand and help overcome the barriers that women face - what actually works?...
IB 2019/07 Vanuatu’s Family Protection Act: Contextualisation, Resistance and Implementation
Over the past 10 years, many Pacific Island countries and territories have been amending their laws to address the issue of domestic violence. Vanuatu was the first Pacific Island country to put in place targeted...
Family Protection Orders in PNG Research Report - A Pilot Study in Lae, Papua New Guinea
The pilot study was conducted primarily from March to August 2018 in the urban centre of Lae in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the support and advice of members of the Morobe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee...
IB 2019/02 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...
IB 2019/03 Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 2 Improving Safety
A pilot study on the use and effectiveness of family protection orders was undertaken in Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018. The aim of the orders, introduced under the Family Protection Act (FPA) 2013, is to...
IB 2019/04 Family Protection Orders in Lae, Papua New Guinea: Part 3 Factors Affecting the Accessibility and Effectiveness of the Orders
A pilot study on the use and effectiveness of family protection orders (FPOs) was undertaken in Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018. The aim of the orders, introduced under the Family Protection Act (FPA) 2013, is to...
IB 2018/27 Women’s Representation in the 2018 Fiji Election
Fiji went to the polls on 14 November 2018. The incumbent FijiFirst Party won a narrower victory than expected, with just over 50 per cen t of the vote. The main opposition party, the Social Democratic Liberal Party...
IB 2018/19 Community Law-Making and the Codification of Customary Laws — Social and Gender Issues in Samoa
Samoa1 possesses two parallel systems through which social order and justice are maintained: the formal constitution-based judicial and legal system and the traditional justice mechanism provided by the village fono...
IB 2018/17 Early Modern Witchcraft Trials: Are There Lessons for Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence Today?
In this In Brief, the author talks about the relevance of witchcraft trials in early modern Europe to the contemporary sorcery accusation-related violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
DP2018/02 Timor-Leste and the Empowerment of Women: Access to Justice and the Future for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Survivors
Women in Timor-Leste have long experienced discrimination in health, education, employment and access to justice (UN General Assembly 2008). The prevalence and severity of gender-based violence (GBV) is considered to...
Research Summary Report: Do No Harm: Understanding the Relationship between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Violence against Women in Melanesia
This report covers the research undertaken as part of the project, Do No Harm: Understanding the Relationship between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Violence against Women in Melanesia. The research was a...
Do No Harm Research: Bougainville
This report covers the research undertaken in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville as part of the much larger project, Do No Harm: Understanding the Relationship between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Violence...
Do No Harm Research: Papua New Guinea
This report covers the research undertaken in the Papua New Guinea highlands as part of the much larger project, Do No Harm: Understanding the Relationship between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Violence against...
Do No Harm Research: Solomon Islands
This report covers the research undertaken in Solomon Islands as part of the much larger project, Do No Harm: Understanding the Relationship between Women’s Economic Empowerment and Violence against Women in...
IB2017/38 Experiences of Female Candidates in the 2017 Papua New Guinea General Election
Papua New Guinea went to the polls in June–July 2017 for its ninth general election since independence. Despite a record number of women standing — around five per cent of the total number of candidates — no women...
DP2017/8 Gender Challenges to Financial Inclusion in Papua New Guinea
This paper draws on research undertaken in 2015 among coffee smallholders in Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), focusing specifically on some of the challenges faced by women coffee farmers in...
IB2017/32 Women’s Economic Empowerment and Escaping Violent Relationships
Drawing on research in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlands as part of the Do No Harm (DNH) project, this In Brief examines some of the challenges women face in escaping violent relationships. One assumption often...
IB2017/31 Sorcery Accusation–Related Violence in Papua New Guinea Part 4: Trends over Time and Geographic Spread
This is the last In Brief in a four-part series that summarises key findings from an analysis of reports of sorcery accusation– related violence (SARV) in national newspaper articles and court cases over a 20-year...
IB2017/30 Sorcery Accusation–Related Violence in Papua New Guinea Part 3: State and Non-State Responses
This is the third In Brief of a four-part series on the findings from a quantitative analysis of media and case law relating to sorcery accusation–related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea during a 20-year period (...
IB2017/29 Sorcery Accusation–Related Violence in Papua New Guinea Part 2: Key Characteristics of Incidents, Victims and Perpetrators
It is extremely difficult to gauge the nature and extent of sorcery accusation–related violence (SARV) at a national level in any country. In part this is due to under-reporting and because official health and...
IB2017/28 Sorcery Accusation–Related Violence in Papua New Guinea Part 1: Questions and Methodology
This In Brief sets out the main research questions and summarises the methodology of a major study into sorcery accusation–related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The study began in November 2016 and will...
IB2017/25 Anti-Retroviral Therapy and Social Danger in Papua New Guinea
During fieldwork in Jiwaka Province in the highlands of Papua New Guinea in 2016, Richard Eves had a troubling conversation with a village court magistrate about the consequences of supplying anti-retroviral therapy...
IB2017/12 Coffee is Men’s Business (Part 2)
Ever since its introduction to the Papua New Guinea Highlands during the colonial period, coffee has been seen as ‘men’s business’ (see Eves and Titus 2017). This In Brief examines the attempts of some communities to...
IB2017/11 Coffee is Men’s Business (Part 1)
Coffee is one of the most important cash crops in Papua New Guinea and is the mainstay of the economies of several Highlands provinces, with an estimated almost three million people dependent on income from it (Imbun...
IB2017/7 Developing Community Laws to Address Sorcery and Witchcraft-Related Violence in Papua New Guinea
Witchcraft and sorcery-related violence, the focus of much attention in recent years, is seemingly an intractable problem that is impossible to remedy (see Forsyth and Eves 2015). While such pessimism is not without...
IB2017/4 Unequal Work Burdens: Challenges to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Solomon Islands
Despite women’s economic empowerment now being considered an essential component of development programming, in many parts of the world empowerment has not assured improvement in women’s wellbeing. Rather, it has...
IB2017/3 Conflicts over Credit: Challenges to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Solomon Islands
This In Brief looks at the challenges to women’s economic empowerment posed by the cultural pressure to give. Though the pressure to give affects everyone who has an income, women are more likely to be intimidated by...
IB2016/27 Terms of Exclusion: Violence and the Impact on Women’s Participation in Development
In 2015, the Australian Government–funded Nabilan1 Program (Ending Violence against Women) conducted a study on violence against women and children in Timor-Leste (Asia Foundation 2016). This was the country’s first...
The Relationship between Violence against Women and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Bougainville
Women’s economic empowerment is now seen to be a critical aspect of poverty reduction and development and is an important goal of the current Australian aid program. Economic empowerment initiatives generally focus...
Alcohol, gender and violence in Bougainville
This In Brief reports on research undertaken in Bougainville in October 2015 (Eves and Crawford 2014).1 Unlike previous studies, this research specifically explored the relationship between women’s economic...
Using Mobile Phones to Track Anti-Witchcraft Violence in Papua New Guinea
This In Brief outlines the role new mobile phone– based research techniques can play in addressing this information deficit.
Preventing Violence at Home, Allowing Violence in the Workplace: A Case Study of Security Guards in Papua New Guinea
In this In Brief I ask: How do Papua New Guinean men living in violent contexts make sense of messages aimed at preventing violence against women?
New Draft National Action Plan to Address Sorcery Accusation–Related Violence in Papua New Guinea
In 2013, widespread publicity given to the deaths of two women accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea (PNG) drew international and national attention to t
Home-Brewed Alcohol, Gender, and Violence in the West Papuan Highlands
Alcohol is officially banned in the West Papuanhighlands, but home-brewed alcohol (minumanlokal in Indonesian, literally, 'local drink') isinexpensive, widely available, and transforminginterpersonal, political, and...
