Is Tax Reform the Solution to Sexual Violence in Papua New Guinea?

Samantha Schwarz
ORCID: 0000-0002-2090-6382
E-mail: samschwarz0@gmail.com

Global Politics Review
Vol. 7, no. 1-2 (2021): 18-29.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4876738
GPR ID: 2464-9929_v07_i1-2_p018
Received: March 13, 2021. Accepted: May 12, 2021. Published: June 15, 2021.

ABSTRACT: This work attempts to solve the systemic sexual violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The incidence of which, remains so persistent that the abuse is an insidious threat abhorrently distinct in PNG. When more than 80-percent of the PNG population subsists in an informal economy – where there is by definition, no formal rule of law – women are inherently vulnerable. An exploration is taken into how tax, as an equally important half of fiscal policy, can be used to propel the adoption of a formal economy throughout PNG and improve gender equality. Specific tax reforms, including deductions to promote female land ownership and support for working mothers’ childcare costs, are considered for the ways in which they may assist women to earn their financial independence and escape repeated abuse.

Keywords:  Global South, taxation, development, gender equality, sexual violence, domestic violence.

Copyright by the Author. This is an Open Access article licensed by Global Politics Review under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0.

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