Abstract
This paper addresses how Christianity, and in particular Catholicism, is deployed in response to gender-based violence (GBV) in Papua New Guinea. It provides insights into the various ways the Catholic community, Church, and its clergy respond to and manage GBV. Focusing on a case study in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, the article reveals how Gender Equality Theology is used and received to address GBV in this region. What transpires is that despite supporting social change, Gender Equality Theology also advocates a particular status quo by essentialising gender relations, and thereby excluding non-binary gender identifications and relations. The article will discuss this paradox, highlighting the importance of vernacularisation and how despite its conservatism, Gender Equality Theology provides victims, survivors, counselors, and activists with resources to respond to GBV and change gender inequality in the region.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 310-328 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Oceania |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Heartfelt thanks to Sr. Garasu, Sr. Josephine, Bernadette, and all the other ARoB participants for their time and willingness to share their opinions and experiences with Kenneth. We hope we have conveyed your perspectives accurately. We also want to thank the ‘Religion and Gender’ reviewers and editors McPhillips and Page (2021), and especially the ‘Oceania’ reviewers for their generous comments and suggestions, which helped us improve this article significantly. Hermkens wants to thank the Anthropology Department of Aarhus University for the research fellowship (January–December 2022) and Macquarie University for the MQNS grant that made fieldwork and the interviews conducted by Kenneth in the ARoB possible. Open access publishing facilitated by Macquarie University, as part of the Wiley - Macquarie University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.
Funding Information:
Heartfelt thanks to Sr. Garasu, Sr. Josephine, Bernadette, and all the other ARoB participants for their time and willingness to share their opinions and experiences with Kenneth. We hope we have conveyed your perspectives accurately. We also want to thank the ‘Religion and Gender’ reviewers and editors McPhillips and Page ( 2021 ), and especially the ‘Oceania’ reviewers for their generous comments and suggestions, which helped us improve this article significantly. Hermkens wants to thank the Anthropology Department of Aarhus University for the research fellowship (January–December 2022) and Macquarie University for the MQNS grant that made fieldwork and the interviews conducted by Kenneth in the ARoB possible. Open access publishing facilitated by Macquarie University, as part of the Wiley ‐ Macquarie University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Oceania published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of University of Sydney.
