http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/png-no-justice-for-woman-burned-alive-in-sorcery-attack

Today marks the one year anniversary of the killing of a woman in Papua New Guinea. Twenty year old Kepari Leniata was accused of sorcery and burned alive. Leniata was blamed for the death of a small boy in the city of Mount Hagen. The boy was terminally ill, but his brothers decided that his death was the result of a spell placed on him by Leniata. The boys that murdered her have yet to be brought to justice. According to the article, posted by Amnesty International, sorcery is often used as a pretext for violence against women in Papua New Guinea. Until recently, those accused of assault or murder were granted reduced sentences under the 1971 Sorcery Act. It took over 40 years for Papua New Guinea’s parliament to repeal an Act that has absolutely no place in the modern world. This is a despicable trend in Papua New Guinea. Obviously more must be done to educate the people of Papua New Guinea about the nature of the physical world we live in. Not only that, but measures must also be taken to bring practitioners of these crimes to justice. I believe it is completely unethical under any circumstances to tolerate crimes against women. I believe that tradition plays an important role in forming our cultural identities. However I also believe that any tradition or cultural belief that justifies the harming of women, physical and otherwise, should be eradicated. People often defend harmful traditions under the umbrella argument of cultural relativism, that is to say, “what’s right for us may not be right for them and vice versa”.  I believe in uncompromised freedom for every person as long as he or she does not harm anyone else, this is not consistent with the view of cultural relativism. There isn’t much to analyze about this article seeing as how it was posted by Amnesty International, whose motives are clear – to protect human rights of people worldwide.

“Amnesty International calls on Papua New Guinea’s government to develop urgent measures to protect women at risk of violence including establishing shelters and providing emergency funds to help women escape violence.”