In June this year, Papua New Guineans will decide who leads their country for the next five years — will this be the election for women to shine in a society known for its deeply entrenched patriarchal beliefs?
The Pacific has the lowest rate of female political representation in the world – and Papua New Guinea is one of the few countries in the region with no women holding office.
Since achieving independence in 1975, just seven women have been elected to the country's parliament.
A proposal that would have seen five seats reserved for women was officially shelved earlier this year, when the government announced that quotas would not be introduced in time for this election.
Despite this, there was a glimmer of hope when the ruling political party elected its first woman president last year. But for the most part, women remain sidelined and excluded from decision-making.
Someone who understands just how difficult it is for women to run in the elections is Geejay Milli, a political scientist at the University of Papua New Guinea.
In almost 50 years of independence, Ms Milli said little progress had been made in elevating women to take public office, despite women landing leadership roles in other sectors.
Ms Milli said enduring patriarchal attitudes were to blame.
"The men [are] in positions of leadership and are recognised more in public spaces, and women are often placed in the private sphere away from the public eye," she said.
"We see that there's big improvements in women being in leadership positions in different sectors of society.
"But in parliament, where national decisions are made for the country, we still don't have women representation. We must make a priority to see that we have more women, more girls in the positions of leadership."
According to Ms Milli, this would mean issues affecting PNG women would make it onto the government's agenda, and lead to better outcomes.
"In our culture, people think that women have no right to speak in front of big gatherings or in decision making," she said.
"There are so many eligible women who are very educated, who are very good leaders, and yet they're not given the platform.
Past PNG elections have been marred by violence and corruption controversies.
Ms Milli said men used underhanded tactics to thwart women's campaigns through vote buying, intimidation and using guns to to scare locals and silence critics.
"In the past nine elections, our track record in terms of violence during elections, in terms of corruption, vote buying, bribery of election officials or just swaying or impacting the election system has been poor," she said.
"It's not something that we should butter up to make look good in front of the rest of the world and the Pacific.
Ego, power, resources, money
In 2017, Monica Nita ran against 42 men as the only female candidate in the Kandep Open electorate in Enga Province.
She said she witnessed gun violence, vote buying and voter intimidation first-hand.
"They came in with all number of cars, guns, money. It was just crazy. I was going around in one car, that's all I had. And I had a little budget for the campaign," she said.
"They come with ego, they come with power, they come with resource, they come with money – and they come to make sure they get power.
Ms Nita said male candidates had exploited "the weaknesses of the people" in subsistence-farming villages, who were easily swayed by politicians splashing cash around.
"In villages, they plant cocoa, they live in darkness, they have fresh water, fresh food garden. When they see money, they go crazy," she said.
"And in Enga where I contested, the men know the weaknesses of the people, so they go in with money and they just brainwash all the villages.
"That's something that was a huge challenge for me, a huge threat for me."
Despite not being successful in her last election campaign, Ms Nita said her activism helped disrupt old ways of thinking.
"In our province, women are classified as secondary. They are supposed to stay in the house, do gardening, give birth to a child, look after the garden, look after the pigs," she said.
"I worked in the city. I got educated. I run a business. I'm a single mother. If I can do it, all the girls in Enga can do it.
Pork-barrelling — with money and pigs
Papua New Guinea lawyer Emma Minimbi also witnessed exorbitant amounts of money being given to families in the lead-up to elections.
"Leading up to issue of the writ, they'll turn up in person and give money and livestock or they send someone to that particular tribe and give them money and pigs and other things of value," she said.
"Then when the time comes for the writ to be issued and for campaigning and elections, the people who have been receiving the money and the livestock feel like obligated or in debt to the person who helped them at their difficult time."
She said candidates often used cultural ceremonies like a death, or paying bride price, to sway voters.
"For instance, if there's a death in a neighbouring tribe, instead of giving the usual contribution of 1,000 kina ($380) and a pig, they'll end up giving 5,000 kina and maybe three or four pigs.
Women are 'powerful agents', lawyer says
Ms Minimbi aspires to hold public office. Until then, she is educating her local community about local politics.
"I tell women the right to stand for public office is not limited to men. Under the constitution, it doesn't say only men can stand for public office, it says citizens, which includes women as well. And I think a lot of women don't know that," she said.
Ms Minimbi said women were "naturally born leaders" who deserved to sit at the decision-making table.
"Ordinary rural mothers and young women in the village who are mostly subsistence farmers, they sell food, and [with] what little income they can make they think, 'This is it for me, there's nothing more that I can offer,'" she said.
"And I tell them that's not true.
"[They] multitask and bring in money into the household at the same time, take care of your children, put food on the table, wash the clothes, keep the house clean and look after livestock.
"The way I see it, women have always been powerful people — powerful agents in the family and a community."
