There has been a significant change in attitude towards how Papua New Guinea businesses can contribute towards eliminating gender violence in the country in the past year. Business Advantage PNG looks at an innovative program being run by one of country’s leading landowner companies, Anitua.

Dr Linda Van Leeuwen (second from right) in Canberra discussing the gender violence issue with Dr Eric Kwa, Secretary/CEO of the PNG Constitutional Law Reform Commission.

Working out how to address the gender violence issue in PNG has been the biggest challenge for the business community in the country, explains Dr Linda Van Leeuwen, Capacity Building Specialist at landowner company, Anitua.

What drove Anitua to take action, Dr Van Leeuwen recalls, was the alarming statistic that 70 percent of all women in PNG have suffered from gender violence.

By applying this statistic to Anitua’s workforce, the company realised it could make a significant contribution by supporting so many of its own female staff.

‘At that time we had about 1500 (female) staff across all of our businesses, and we thought: 70% of our female staff comes to about 1050 women,’ says Van Leeuwen.

‘I can say with absolute confidence that addressing violence is not only the right thing to do but it’s also the smart thing to do’

‘We looked at what we could we do as a workplace program and, while we have limited capacity to control what goes on in the community and outside of work, as an employer we do have significant control over what happens in our workplace.’

White Ribbon Program

After realising the impact of gender violence, Anitua investigated how it could tackle the issue by implementing its own initiatives for Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVAW).

Anita Executive Director, Colin Vale.

‘We started out addressing gender violence because we knew we had to do something to help the hundreds of women who work for us and who make us a successful business – it was simply the right thing to do,’ notes Colin Vale, Executive Director at Anitua.

‘However, along the way we began to realise the business benefits of our EVAW program and I can say with absolute confidence that addressing violence is not only the right thing to do but it’s also the smart thing to do.’

Anitua is currently implementing Australia’s White Ribbon Workplace Program in order to make its workplaces safer for women, as well as more supportive of female staff impacted by gender violence.

‘We lobbied White Ribbon Australia to let us participate in that program. We have been implementing that for about a year and we are about two-thirds of the way through ticking all of the right boxes with that,’ says Van Leeuwen.

Business commitment

In addition to Anitua’s commitment to the White Ribbon Workplace Program—just one element of a five-pronged approach to tackling gender violence—the company’s broader EVAW program has included lobbying other businesses, and the resources industry in particular, to introduce initiatives of their own.

‘While we have limited capacity to control what goes on in the community and outside of work, as an employer we do have significant control over what happens in our workplace’

Anitua has also championed and committed to the funding of a yet-to-be constructed women’s refuge, or meri seif haus, on Lihir Island.

The company has also focused on keeping the issue in the public’s eye through media and events, and assisting other businesses to introduce their initiatives through involvement with the PNG Business Coalition for Women (BCFW).

Van Leeuwen, who is also a director of the Business Coalition for Women, says that, over the past year, awareness of the gender violence issue amongst PNG business had lifted substantially.

Anitua’s Dr Linda Van Leeuwen.

With the raised awareness has come a shift in company attitudes towards gender violence, and the implementation of Anitua’s own unique initiatives, she adds.

‘From all of these different directions business is hearing about the fact that there is this incredibly high and unacceptable rate of death and violence in PNG,’ she says.

‘Certainly, they have got to make the link as we did and think that 70 per cent of their female staff is impacted. You look at that from a moral, humanitarian perspective and say: as a business we need to address it, we care about our staff and this is simply unacceptable.’

Wider initiatives

Anita is not alone. Resources companies and other organisations, including Oil Search Ltd, the Mineral Resources Authority, Newcrest Mining Ltd, Origin Energy and ExxonMobil PNG, have all introduced initiatives aimed at eliminating gender violence.

Beyond the resources industry, Van Leeuwen says there are also initiatives being implemented by companies from other sectors, such as CPL Group (retail), Digicel (communications) and New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (agriculture).