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The Documentary: Open Eye - Crying Meri

The Documentary: Open Eye - Crying Meri: Open Eye: Crying Meri

26/07/2014 GMT

Open Eye: Crying Meri

Open Eye - Crying Meri

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Open Eye - Crying Meri, Open Eye: Crying Meri

How men are getting way with murder and violence against women in Papua New Guinea

How men are getting way with murder and violence against women in Papua New Guinea.

***WARNING: This programme includes graphic descriptions of sexual violence***

'A humanitarian crisis', that's how the medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers describes the levels of violence against women they are dealing with in Papua New Guinea - levels they say they usually only witness in war-zones. It is a shocking and under-reported situation that the Russian photojournalist Vlad Sokhin has been documenting for the last three years. 
 
Sokhin takes us on a journey from the remote PNG highlands to the capital Port Moresby. Along the way, he hears the untold stories of women subjected to some of the most extreme violence perpetrated anywhere on earth, including the brutal torture of women accused of witchcraft. Sokhin is given rare access to Haus Ruth, one of only a handful of  women's refuges in PNG, as well as also  hearing from women risking their lives by taking a stand against the violence.
 
Perhaps most distubingly Sokhin talks to men who are quite open about having taken part in gang rapes and murders - exposing a criminal justice sytem that is failing women at the most basic level. It is a sobering but unforgettable journey that brings Vlad face-to-face with the truth that in Papua New Guinea men can and do get away with murder.

BBC World Service

Vlad Sokhin reports on the high levels of violence against women he has documented for last three years in Papua New Guinea.

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