Raskol is a generic term for a criminal or group of criminals in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

("PNG"), primarily in the larger cities, including

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and Lae. ''Raskol'' is a

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin ( ,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh ; ), often referred to by English speakers as New Guinea Pidgin or simply Pidgin, is an English-based creole languages, English creole language spoken throughou ...

(

Pidgin English Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles. English-based pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have ...

) word derived from the English word '' rascal'' and is currently used in Papua New Guinea to refer to gang members or criminals in general.

History

Raskol gangs first emerged in Port Moresby in the 1970s, largely associated with the growth of urban

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

settlements in Port Moresby that consisted of recent migrants from the rural areas of the country and their children. Unemployment was (and remains) high in the settlements, with most employment in the

informal sector An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countri ...

, and educational opportunities very limited. Similar to criminal gangs in western urban centres such as Los Angeles, London, and Paris, criminal gangs emerged as a mechanism through which uneducated and unemployed urban youth in PNG sought a sense of self-worth and security by associating with others who share their deprivation. In a country where

betel nut The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm ('' Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 1 ...

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, and homebrew alcohol are widely accessible at an early age, these drugs are an often-cited contributor to the erratic behaviour of ''raskol'' gangs. Widespread alcoholism due to cultural attitudes towards alcoholism may also be a contributor. Many PNG criminal law enforcement officials accept drunkenness as a legal defence in domestic violence cases.Constitutional and Law Reform Commission of Papua New Guinea Report on Domestic Violence
, Papua New Guinea Law Reform Commission, 1992. Over the years, raskol gang activities have evolved from opportunistic incidents of small scale

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

breaking and entering Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

to more organised criminal activity including serving as middlemen in the marijuana trade both within PNG and between PNG and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, as well as becoming increasingly politicised as the instrument of various political powers. The growth of squatter settlements in Lae and Port Moresby has led to a corresponding increase in the number and size of raskol gangs.

Rape

In urban areas, particularly slum areas, Raskol gangs often require raping women for initiation reasons. Peter Moses, one of the leaders of the "Dirty Dons 585" Raskol gang, stated that raping women was a “must” for the young members of the gang. In rural areas, when a boy wants to become a man, he may go to an enemy village and kill a pig to be accepted as an adult, while in the cities "women have replaced pigs." Moses, who claimed to have raped more than 30 women himself, said, “And it is better if a boy kills her afterwards; there will be less problems with the police."

References

External links

Portraits of Violence: The Gangs of Port Moresby
a photo gallery by Stephen Dupont and Kristen Ashburn. {{Gangs Crime in Papua New Guinea Street gangs Criminal subcultures Gangs in Oceania Gang rape in Oceania