A woman who says she was born and raised in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, has described the abuse of women and children as the worst thing about life in the city, in a post on the discussion platform Reddit written under the username Mundane-Society-1281.
Reddit is a popular online forum where users, often posting under pseudonyms, share personal stories and opinions within topic-based communities.
The woman wrote that it was very sad to realize that almost everyone she knows has been a victim of some form of violence, including herself. She said the promotion of a "male subculture" is very common in the city. She said she sometimes wants to move away to live somewhere else, but at times cannot imagine living anywhere but Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea and Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea is a country of roughly 10 million people occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific, north of Australia. Port Moresby, its capital, is the country's largest city. International human rights organizations have repeatedly documented widespread gender-based violence in the country.
The Reddit user described Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea's other major cities as among the worst in the Pacific region.
Warning for visitors
She said Port Moresby and other large cities in the country are not very safe, pointing to poverty and the high cost of living in big cities as causes. She said petty crime, along with violence and harassment against women, is very common there, and that she rarely leaves her home and is never out alone.
She added that Port Moresby could be dangerous enough for tourists that she would recommend visitors instead choose a province with a lower crime rate and more attractive scenery.
Separately, a tourist earlier complained about behavior by men in Italy that she found irritating, saying she was unsettled by verbal harassment, winking and gestures with a sexual undertone.
