Women in PNG need laws that must be implemented to support them as equal partners to men in the National Parliament says former Member for Sohe Delilah Gore.
Gore said the biggest challenge that women in PNG face when contesting for election or as elected members of Parliament is having laws that do not fully support them.
She was speaking during the “Women in leadership retreat PNG” in Port Moresby today.
She said despite the equality bill passed in Parliament in 2011, women still faced equality challenges.
Gore added that PNG is a country that is governed by the constitution and part of the laws emphasis on the equal rights of its citizens. But she said as a former member of parliament, the laws were not sufficient to empower women.
She said this is an important agenda that must be looked into to ensure women are treated as equal contributors to the development of the country.
Advisory committee member to Fishers Capital PNG Ltd, Dulciana Somare Brash said the system of law in PNG is failing because it is not implemented in the way it was designed to assist the society.
“What PNG government needs to look into now is to fix up what is broken to ensure women are governed by the law effectively to represent the society,” she said.
In supporting the statement, Governor for NCD Powes Parkop said it requires changes in leadership to ensure the laws are strong enough to support women representation in Parliament.