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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-AU link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Jennifer Peachey - ‘Kastom Law’ vs. ‘Formal Family Court’: Women and Children’s Experience of Changing Family Forms in Goroka Town, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Tuesday 24 April 2012, 3.00-4.00pm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Hedley Bull Theatre 2, Hedley Bull Bldg #130, Garran Road, ANU<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Abstract<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>There are various customary and informal avenues of dispute resolution in Goroka town of the eastern highlands, Papua New Guinea. Despite this fact, approximately 5,500 cases were heard in the non-indigenous state institution of the district court in 2009 - 2010. In this paper, I focus exclusively on family court cases heard in the district court and why it is that women approach the district court, rather than alternative mechanisms, in order to pursue family related concerns. I suggest that women’s eagerness to utilise the district court reflects changing family forms and experiences of being a mother, wife and sister in an urban setting. Using court cases, case studies and observations made during fieldwork, I explore the changing dynamics and definitions of ‘the nuclear family’ (husband, wife, child), the male-female relationship (the husband-wife and brother-sister relationship) and ‘kastom’. I note that whilst some reasons for changing family structure are beyond the control of women, others are changes that women actively seek to bring about themselves. Finally, I consider two children’s spirited attempts to utilise the police and village court to deal with their polygamous fathers and their fathers’ wives. The paper is based on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Goroka town between 2009-2010.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Jennifer Peachey is currently a PhD Scholar in the Department of Social Anthropology in the University of Manchester, UK. She has a Masters in Research in Social Anthropology, Ethnology and Cultural History from the University of Aberdeen, a Masters in Visual Anthropology from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Cambridge. She is interested in international development and has studied at the United Nations University in Tokyo and worked in the UK Department for International Development and UNICEF Papua New Guinea.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Richard Eves<br><br>State, Society & Governance in Melanesia Program<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>ANU College of Asia & the Pacific<br>The Australian National University<br>CANBERRA ACT 0200<br><br>Telephone: + 61 2 6125 3275<br>Facsimile: + 61 2 6125 9604<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Email: Richard.Eves@anu.edu.au<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Web: </span><a href="http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ssgm/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ssgm/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Web: <a href="http://anu.academia.edu/RichardEves"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://anu.academia.edu/RichardEves</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Skype: laradiorong<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>