More than 500 emails have been sent to the Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner from the ACT NOW!  website demanding action over the case of Joy Wartovo, who has been the victim of numerous serious assaults by her policeman husband.

ACT NOW! set up the email action on its website last Friday after seeing the huge response when a group of concerned volunteers established the Papua New Guineans Against Domestic Violence group on the social networking site Facebook. The group has attracted over 5,000 followers in just a few days.

You can participate in the ACT NOW! email action at www.actnowpng.org/action

In response to the community reaction, Metropolitan Police Superintendent Joseph Tondop has appealed for the public’s help in arresting Wartovo’s husband, Simon Bernard, and promised to investigate claims he has been assisted and protected by other police officers.

Dame Carol Kidu, PNG’s only women MP, is one of those who have taken action through the ACT NOW! website. She has praised all those involved in the campaign and urged them not to give up their fight for justice for Joy Wartovo and an end to violence against women and children.

According to public statistics two out of every three women in PNG experience domestic violence and 50 percent of women have experienced forced sex, rape or gang rape¹. UNICEF estimates around 1 million children in PNG live with violence either at home or in their community.²