I Do Not Need Another Donor Slogan Telling Me Women are “Empowered”

I am a woman in Papua New Guinea, and I see women doing the work.

We are driving vehicles, studying engineering, running businesses, joining law enforcement, managing offices, leading communities and raising families. Women are entering spaces that men once treated as theirs by birthright. However, too many women are still expected to prove their worth every day.

In PNG, a woman can work hard, speak clearly and carry responsibility, yet still be treated as less capable, less important and less safe. That is the part many polished reports fail to say plainly.

Women’s rights in PNG are not only about policy. They are about whether a woman can walk safely, work without harassment, report abuse without shame and lead without being attacked for it.

Gender-based violence remains one of the country’s most serious failures. It does not only happen in homes. It follows women into markets, offices, buses, schools, villages and online spaces.

It shows up as physical violence, sexual assault, sorcery accusation-related violence, verbal abuse and defamatory comments designed to break a woman down.

This Is Not Culture. This Is Control.

The PNG Government has laws and strategies to protect women. Donor organisations have funded programs, campaigns, workshops and awareness activities for years. Some of that work matters.

But if women are still unsafe, still underpaid, still ignored and still afraid to report abuse, then the system is not working hard enough.

Donors should be honest about that. Too many programs finish when the funding cycle ends. Too many reports celebrate training numbers while women on the ground still face the same men, the same threats and the same silence.

Women do not need another short-term project that photographs them in a workshop. They need enforcement, jobs, safe transport, working complaint systems, legal support, shelters, leadership pathways and employers that take their safety seriously.

This is where companies operating in the Pacific make a difference.

A workplace such as MC Infrastructure gives women something practical: a stable platform. It gives women a place to work, learn, contribute and be valued for capability. It shows that women can belong in technical, professional and project environments without being treated as guests. That should not be unusual. It should be normal. We contribute to our projects, and our country.

PNG’s future will not be built by men alone. It will be built by women in offices, markets, classrooms, construction sites, public service, business and community leadership.

The country already has strong women. The question is whether government, donors, employers and communities are strong enough to stand with them.