Proclivity and Prevalence: Accounting for the Dynamics of Sexual Violence in the Response to HIV in Papua New Guinea

Does bride price harm women? Using ethnography to think about causality

“…First, bride price establishes a husband's rights over his wife's labour, sexuality and fertility, and, in patrilineal societies, incorporates her and her children into his kin group; this entails that the woman lives and cooperates with his family while the children are members of his lineage (Strathern & Strathern, 1969; Feil, 1981; Strathern, 1984; Pflanz-Cook, 1993; Goddard, 2010; Servy, 2020). Paying bride price is therefore sometimes interpreted as conveying ownership of a wife's productive and reproductive capacities, and the husband's kin may expect to exert power in the relationship once they have ‘paid’, especially if the bride price was high (Wilson, 1987; Rosi & Zimmer-Tamakoshi, 1993; Salomon, 2000; Macintyre, 2011; Lepani, 2016). The wife is expected to remain faithful, bear children, grow crops and cultivate ties between the two families; as a result, her husband and in-laws may make demands and feel entitled to control, disrespect and abuse her, a concern shared by local scholars and residents (Filer, 1985; Wilson, 1987; Burt, 1988; Salomon, 2000; Macintyre, 2011; Gibbs, 2016; Biersack, 2016; Lepani, 2016; Jourdan & Labbé, 2020; Buchanan-Aruwafu et al, 2003; Buchanan-Aruwafu & Maebiru, 2008; Servy, 2020).…”

“…Paying bride price is therefore sometimes interpreted as conveying ownership of a wife's productive and reproductive capacities, and the husband's kin may expect to exert power in the relationship once they have ‘paid’, especially if the bride price was high (Wilson, 1987; Rosi & Zimmer-Tamakoshi, 1993; Salomon, 2000; Macintyre, 2011; Lepani, 2016). The wife is expected to remain faithful, bear children, grow crops and cultivate ties between the two families; as a result, her husband and in-laws may make demands and feel entitled to control, disrespect and abuse her, a concern shared by local scholars and residents (Filer, 1985; Wilson, 1987; Burt, 1988; Salomon, 2000; Macintyre, 2011; Gibbs, 2016; Biersack, 2016; Lepani, 2016; Jourdan & Labbé, 2020; Buchanan-Aruwafu et al, 2003; Buchanan-Aruwafu & Maebiru, 2008; Servy, 2020). For example, Manga men in Papua New Guinea could inflict violence on adulterous wives once they had paid bride price, at least in the past (Pflanz-Cook, 1993).…”