Despite the challenges, many women have achieved positive results in this year’s elections – and this includes Rufina Peter, who contested the Central Regional Seat.
She was the highest polling woman candidate, with 33,221 votes, placing her in third place.
Speaking in a joint conference between the United Nations Development Programme, the Registrar of Political Parties and the Ombudsman Commission, Ms Peter said there were four main challenges for woman candidates in PNG.
First was the perception of many Papua New Guineans that politics is a man’s world and that all women are ill-equipped to be effective political leaders.
The second is that the current political culture promotes corrupt practices - particularly significant expenditure to buy votes.
Third challenge on the list is that there isn’t adequate financial resources and logistical support for the entire election period and finally, the challenges that women face brokering support from traditional tribal leaders to secure sufficient base votes in order to be a serious contender among the male candidates.
Ms Peter said to address these challenges, the government of PNG and development partners need to move beyond short term interventions to implementing a well-planned and comprehensive intervention package with the overall objective to create a level playing field for women in PNG politics.