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Article Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
The association between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and violence seems not very obvious, but in Papua New Guinea, as elsewhere in the world, people turn to Mary in order to seek a solution for the problems they face. Josephine's 'journey of violence' deals with how in the urban setting of Madang, Marian devotion is deployed in response to domestic and gender-based violence. In following the experiences and perceptions of Josephine, a 49-old educated woman working at the Catholic Diocesan's Health office in Madang, this article acknowledges the current debate on Christianity in Papua New Guinea and, in particular, the urge for a more intensive anthropological investigation of the experience of Christianity by Melanesians (for example Barker 1990:9, 1992).
Various scholars have since responded to Barker's call, but most of these studies (for example Goddard & Van Heekeren 2003; Jebens 2005; Robbins 2004) have focused on rural indigenisations of Christianity and processes of transformation. Urban experiences and constructions of Christianity remain largely un-addressed. Moreover, little is known about the impact and nature of Catholicism and in particular of Marian devotion in urban settings. Josephine's experiences give insight into how Marian devotion is practised and used by individual women and Church clergy to provide a way for them to cope with various forms of violence.
In the following sections, I will give an overview of the various acts of violence Papua New Guinean women like Josephine face, and how these acts result in a 'state of violence' (Brown 1987) that shapes women's lives. By elaborating on the setting of Madang, it is shown that this 'state of violence' is part of a specific urban sociality that calls for a redefinition of family relations, gender roles and kinship relations, and which is coloured by other morally troubling issues such as gender violence and HIV/AIDS. In order to address these issues, both men and women turn to Mary in order to seek guidance, help and empowerment.
However, as already elucidated by studies on Mary, the role of Mary is not straightforward as she is seen to both empower and dis-empower her followers (Hermkens 2007a, 2007b; Ruether 1993). In the small town of Madang, Mary not only exercises power in her capacity of strengthening and protecting her female followers against violence. She is also instrumental in the assertion of authority and obedience and, as such, of facilitating violence against women. Mary's role is complex as she herself is part of the many struggles urban women face. Caught between 'traditional', Christian and 'modern' values, (1) Josephine and other Catholic women engage in painful processes of subjectivation and self-transformation to adapt to and change their situation. In these processes, Mary is used as an (ambiguous) role model.
JOSEPHINE'S JOURNEY OF VIOLENCE
Sometimes I wonder: how did I survive all this? I thank God and our Lady, she is my role model: a simple, humble woman.
Josephine (49 years), mother of seven children and grandmother of five, expresses her gratitude to God and Mary as she reflects on her life, which she perceives as a 'journey of violence'. Josephine originated from a small village near the town of Lae, married there and subsequently moved with her husband to Lae. There they lived until they separated and Josephine moved to Madang in 2001. When I met her in 2005, Josephine was working at the Archdiocesan HIV/AIDS office in Madang. Since 2004, Josephine has been giving advice about HIV/AIDS, organising prevention campaigns that are aimed at changing people's sexual behaviour and, thereby, their moral conduct.
When discussing the subject of sexual violence and the threat of HIV infection in Papua New Guinea, Josephine began to tell me her own story. My arrival in her office coincided with her efforts of trying to reconcile with the past, finding out who she is and, in particular, if she should speak out against the violence that has affected her life since 1973. Being an educated, fluent English speaking, mature and strong woman with a background of having occupied leading positions in religious organisations, such as the Catholic Women's Association (CWA) and the Legion of Mary, she feels herself to be oppressed by individual men, and, at a general level, by the male dominated society of Papua New Guinea and its male dominated institutions, including the Church.
Is it my right to speak the unknown that has been violating me? Speaking my rights as a Melanesian daughter, as a mother of seven children, a grandmother and as a separated wife? Or do I have to protect myself? Keep silent because of my patrilineal society in which I cannot speak out my rights because this [violence to women] is normal to everyone? (Interview with Josephine: Madang 2005)
Obviously, our encounter enabled her not only to tell her story and ventilate her grudges, but also to have an outsider acknowledge the suffering she experienced and still experiences. Josephine started her narration of her 'journey of violence' with a story about her daughter, who was the victim of a gang rape.
My daughter was working as a teacher in a remote area. On their way back their truck was looted and all the female teachers, including my daughter, were dragged out of the truck. The male teachers were trying to help them but there were too many raskols [roving band of criminals]. They pulled my daughter aside and she was raped. When she told me, I cried. At that time, my husband came home and found us crying. He started hitting me, beating me, saying it was my fault that my daughter was crying. My daughter then started crying because of me. I asked him to stop so I could take care of our daughter. He stopped and I took her to the hospital; we were so afraid of AIDS. She had a boyfriend and we did not know how he would react upon my daughter having been raped. Fortunately, the test was negative; no AIDS. Her father did not know what had happened to her. He just left us for 3 years. So, this is what we as women are facing! (Interview with Josephine: Madang 2005)
The narrative of her daughter's rape embodies Josephine's experiences as well as her reflection on the different forms of violence women might face. The violence addressed in Josephine's narrative is multiple (Kleinman 1997) and consists of 'acts of violence', as well as 'states of violence' (Brown 1987). Criminal violence (hold up and looting), sexual violence (in this case rape by strangers), domestic violence (physical beating and emotional abuse by the husband), and violation of health (risk of being infected with HIV) are all acts of violence. In Josephine's experience, these take place on the street and in the community, in domestic settings, at work and, as shown later, in institutions, such as the Church.
Josephine's experiences with the different acts of violence are not unique. As argued by Bradley (2001:2), 'the majority of adult women of Papua New Guinea have been physically assaulted by their husbands, forced to have sex with them, or have been raped or sexually assaulted by other men'. Statistics also reveal that domestic violence is the most dominant form of sexual violence. Surveys conducted in the mid 1980s showed that 67% of rural women, and 56% of urban women have been hit by their husbands (Toft 1985:14). (2) In my own research among Catholic women in Port Moresby and Madang from August 2005 till February 2006, I found that 22 of the 42 female members of the Catholic Women's Association and the Legion of Mary whom I interviewed reported having experienced domestic violence. (3)
Josephine's husband hitting her and accusing her of being responsible for her daughter's grief was not an isolated incident. It was part of a structural physical and emotional abuse that Josephine faced during her 27 years of marriage. As she described her relationship with her husband:
My husband and me were always fighting. When I was pregnant of my first daughter, he had another woman. He humiliated me, he hit me, and he abused me sexually. It was very painful, and I was very ashamed. I felt inhuman.... (Interview with Josephine: Madang 2006).
A census conducted in the 1980s reveals that marital fights are mainly the result of alcohol, money and jealousy, followed by problems with the children and violence by the husband (Conway and Mantovani 1990:121-122). Domestic violence was attributed to men's drinking, gambling and bad temper, and to women's behaviour, such as gossiping, going out alone, not doing their duties and talking to unknown members of the opposite sex (Conway and Mantovani 1990:127). In Josephine's case, many of the reasons given above resulted in the 'state of violence' between Josephine and her husband. In particular, jealousy and loss of control played an important part. Josephine, who at the time of the abuse was working for the Catholic Church in Lae, was blamed for committing adultery with one of her male colleagues. Josephine denied the allegations but her husband did not believe her and responded with violence. In turn, Josephine accused her husband of adultery, which led to scolding and aggressive acts. Moreover, Josephine's husband not only disapproved of her public conduct, but also of her private behaviour, which he argued was too flamboyant and not in line with his expectations.
Josephine's case, as well as others, shows that in general, violence against women occurs when 'men perceive they have lost control over women, when women are perceived by men to have breached certain expectations of conduct, or when there are underlying prior injuries within the family' (cf Banks 2000). In particular, continuing attitudes of male dominance (Kidu 2000:30) and gender based-hierarchies seem to fuel violence towards girls and women (Eves nd: 26). (4)
This gender-based violence leads to another form of violence: the endangering of women's health. One of the major problems Papua New Guinea is facing today is the looming threat of an HIV/AIDS epidemic. (5) Among the reasons for this crisis is, in addition to gender-based violence, increasing impoverishment, which in combination ensure a high vulnerability to the virus (Jenkins 1995:...
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