Women mistreated in logging area - East Pomio - Papua New Guinea

WOMEN working at an oil palm plantation in East Pomio are mistreated, paid meagre wages and subjected to sexual assaults, a women leader has claimed.
Executive Officer for Wide Bay Conservation Association, Elizabeth Tongne condemned the situation saying our women were being abused by foreigners and called for government intervention.
"There is a rise in unwanted pregnancies in the area which again becomes another responsibility for the parents and the community," she said.
"When they get pregnant, then that's when people start asking questions but usually it is not revealed because culturally rape is something that is not discussed.
"There is also wide circulation of pornographic materials."
She said underage schoolgirls are also victims. She said foreigners are luring them to have sex for money.
She said most of the women were forced to work for meagre wages because their land had been taken away and food gardens destroyed. Their only hope to feed their families was to work for the company.
A Greenpeace activist Sam Moko supported the claims, saying he had visited the area and seen the harsh living conditions. The oil palm project is at Masarau between Open Bay and Wide Bay. Ms Tongne said the women come from East Pomio, Central Pomio and Bitapaka Local Level Government area to work in the oil palm plantation, which is situated in the Sinivit Local Level Government and spreads into the East Pomio Local Level Government area.