‘Full price, full body’: norms, brideprice and intimate partner violence in highlands Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This paper draws on qualitative research in Jiwaka Province, in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG), to examine the changing nature of marriage in that context. In particular, it examines how changes in the practice of brideprice have been associated with an increase in intimate partner violence. Violence, a relational process, is to be understood in the context of the customary unequal power relations between men and women. It is argued that men in the highlands of PNG see any gain in power for women as a loss for themselves, and so actively resist it. Men who see their power over women challenged resort to the discourse of brideprice, arguing that the payment of brideprice gives them absolute authority over wives. A good understanding of the norms that sanction violence is a vital step in developing interventions to prevent violence.

Keywords:

• Norms
• intimate partner violence
• marriage
• brideprice
• Papua New Guinea

Acknowledgements

The views expressed here are the author’s alone and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government. I thank Genevieve Kouro, Steven Simiha and Irene Subalik, members of the research team, and Tessa Walsh for logistical support.

Disclosure statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this paper.

Notes

1 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), intimate partner violence is one of the most common categories of violence against women and includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and controlling behaviours by an intimate partner (WHO 2012, 1).

2 Bridewealth or brideprice refers to the exchange or transfer of valuables (money, animals and other goods) by the husband or his relatives to the bride’s relatives on, or prior, to marriage (Hague, Thiara and Turner 2011, 550; Bossen 1988, 128). Dowry refers to the exchange or transfer valuables from the bride’s relatives to the husband and his relatives (Bossen 1988, 128).

3 Papua New Guinea researchers conducted interviews with male and female respondents, and the author interviewed key informants. All interviews were conducted in Tok Pisin, and were transcribed by the interviewers. A research assistant thematically coded the transcripts which were analysed by the author. Ethical clearance was obtained through The Australian National University’s Human Research Ethics Committee.

4 The ‘commodification’ of brideprice has been noted both for PNG (Jorgensen 1993, 60; Luluaki 1997, 28; Rosi and Zimmer-Tamakoshi 1993, 195; Wardlow 2006, 101; Zimmer-Tamakoshi 1993, 87) and more widely (Hague, Thiara and Turner 2011, 556; Kaye et al. 2005a, 302). Writing of PNG, Jorgensen says that some informants spoke of marriage as a sort of business (Jorgensen 1993, 60, 72).

5 Considerable debate exists about the suitability of the term ‘brideprice’, some scholars preferring the more neutral and less value-laden ‘bridewealth’ (Jorgensen 1993, 57; Luluaki 1997, 22, 28) and others contesting the view that it entails commodification (Bossen 1988; Valeri 1994).

Additional information

Funding

The Do No Harm research project was funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program.