Baseline Study for ‘Wok Wantaim lo Mekim Seif Familis’ (Papua New Guinea, 2026)

This report presents the baseline findings for Save the Children’s Together for Safe Families (Wok Wantaim lo Mekim Seif Familis) project, implemented in East Sepik Province and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB), Papua New Guinea. The baseline establishes benchmark values for key indicators related to violence against children, positive parenting, caregiver-child relationships, child wellbeing, resilience, school safety, and gender norms. Data were collected from 198 caregivers and children across eight project communities using structured household surveys and validated measurement tools.

Findings reveal that violence against children is pervasive and highly normalised within households. Overall, 94% of children experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression in the month preceding the survey, with prevalence highest in East Sepik. Physical punishment affected 80% of children and psychological aggression affected 91%, often through multiple forms of violence occurring simultaneously. Despite these high levels of violence, caregivers and children reported generally positive relationships, strong psychosocial wellbeing, and high resilience, suggesting that violent discipline is widely viewed as a legitimate aspect of child-rearing rather than as harmful behaviour.

Most caregivers demonstrated knowledge of positive parenting practices, with 82% able to identify at least three positive parenting approaches. However, this knowledge did not consistently translate into practice, and only a small proportion of caregivers demonstrated strong positive parenting behaviours. Gender inequalities were evident, with girls reporting less positive engagement with caregivers than boys. Attitudes supporting unequal gender roles and the acceptance of violence, particularly in East Sepik, remain widespread. Schools were generally perceived as safer than homes, although more than one-quarter of school-attending children reported experiencing physical and/or emotional violence at school. Awareness of violence reporting mechanisms was high among children.

The baseline highlights the need for interventions that move beyond awareness raising to address deeply entrenched social norms that legitimise violence against children. Strengthening positive parenting practices, promoting gender-equitable attitudes, supporting behaviour change among caregivers, and improving child protection and reporting systems will be critical to achieving the project’s goal of ensuring that children thrive in safe environments where violence is unacceptable.