Practical justice as an innovative approach to addressing inequalities facing gender and sexually diverse people: a case example from Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Cultural values and practices influence many aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights – from access to and quality of health education and services, to gender roles and responsibilities, to family planning and sexual freedoms. Culture is frequently marginalised in epidemiologically driven analyses of sexual and reproductive health and rights yet remains central to the ways in which inequalities within these fields manifest themselves and are engaged with in society. Using Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a case example, this paper sheds light on the enabling and restrictive role of culture in efforts to work towards equity and justice for gender and sexually diverse people. Drawing on four case stories, we offer insight into where culture can and has been deployed to redress serious inequalities in what is often a hostile environment. In these stories we illustrate how practical justice provides an innovative way to approach issues to do with sexual and reproductive health, particularly as they relate to enhancing the lives of people in visible, grassroots ways. In this way, given evidence, good normative judgement and the opportunity to do good and be fair, practical justice may be seen to be taking place.

Keywords:

• Culture
• sexual diversity
• gender diversity
• Christianity
• practical justice

Acknowledgements

We thank members of the sexually and gender diverse communities in PNG who, over many years, have shared their experiences and let us work in partnership in pursuit of justice in the fields of sexual and reproduce heath. We also thank Richard Eves who provided important feedback on an earlier draft of this paper, and for helpful insights as well as valuable references.

Notes

1 A t-shirt has been viewed in PNG that reads “Violence Against Women – Not My Culture’. This is an important inversion and challenge to the embedded belief and notion that violence is and has always been part of PNG culture.

2 The late Carol Jenkins and the National Sex and Reproductive Research Team at the PNG Institute of Medical Research led the first comprehensive sexual health study that detailed contemporary same sex practices outside of rituals of manhood. Subsequent researchers at the PNG Institute of Medical Research including Geraldine Maibani, Lawrence Hammar and authors of this paper have been leaders in studies of contemporary sexuality and gender identities and practices. The late Christine Stewart undertook doctoral research on sex workers and same sex practices as they relate to the law.

3 Hanuabada is a Motuan village on the fringes of Port Moresby and for unknowing onlookers it is frequently misrepresented as a settlement, with illegal semi- and non-permanent housing.

4 Kapul is the tok pisin term for a possum. A nocturnal animal, possums only come out at night. The animal was chosen to reflect something of the hidden nature of their community and the life members have created for themselves at night.

5 These are the standard behavioural/gender terms used for biobehavioural surveys.

Additional information

Funding

AKH was supported by a UNSW Scientia Fellowship during the writing of this manuscript. The development of this paper also benefited from the support of the UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Practical Justice Initiative.