Forty-four-year-old Maria Haro, from Chimbu, was a proud mum at the opening ceremony of the Family and Sexual Violence Unit (FSVU) in Gulf Province on Wednesday.
As a mom of two, she was once a victim but seeing the implementation of this project was a day she could never stop her heart from crying out in joy.
"I was a victim where my ex-husband would hit me or throw me out of the house just to go out with other women," Maria tearfully said.
"I also have been badly beaten with fractured bones and swollen eyes and sometimes, I get chucked out of the house for no good reason," she said.
"And with this unit now here, I would like to thank the people who initiated this project to set up in Kerema.”
Moreover, the unit will help the young mothers and other families who are going through such situations.
With her past experience, Maria urged the families who are facing this issue to now report it directly to the officers-in-charge.
She said in the past, women would report this kind of issue to the officers but they would say "it’s a family problem, go solve it at home".
But with the help of this institution, I believe it will help us locals here, especially the women and children, Maria stated.