Papua New Guinea is one of the many former British Commonwealth colonies which maintain the criminalisation of the sexual activities of two groups, despite the fact that the sex takes place between consenting adults in private: sellers of sex and males who have sex with males. The English common law system was imposed on the colonies with little regard for the social regulation and belief systems of the colonised, and in most instances, was retained and developed post-Independence, regardless of the infringements of human rights involved. Now the HIV pandemic has thrown a spotlight, not altogether welcome, on the sexual activities of these two groups. In Papua New Guinea, a growing body of behavioural research has focused on such matters as individual sexual partnering, condom use and awareness of HIV. My work, however, has a different purpose. I chose the terms in the title to highlight a nexus which I believe exists between the criminal law and negative attitudes of society. At an international level, the argument has been put that decriminalising sex work and sodomy will facilitate HIV epidemic management, reducing the stigma and discrimination these groups encounter and making them easier to reach. I undertook my research therefore with the aim of gaining deeper understanding of the effects the current situation of criminalisation might have on the social lives of these criminalised people today, in the country generally and in Port Moresby the capital in particular, and whether these effects might provide evidence to support the argument for law reform. This is a rich and well-researched study of the legal, social and moral issues surrounding the criminalisation of two forms of consensual sex…. A very impressive piece of work, it is extensively documented, relies on a wide range of material and makes a clear and coherent argument about the place of law in producing identities and exclusions…. The attention to change over time and the complexity of the ways in which sexual behaviour is enacted and punished is a particular strength of the book. —Professor Sally Engle Merry, Anthropology, Law and Society, New York University This book is an exceptional contribution to our knowledge of the nexus between the criminal law and negative attitudes of society, and what effects criminalization has on the social lives of prostitutes and males who have sex with males, and whether these effects might provide evidence to support the argument for law reform…. The author’s experience of Papua New Guinea allows her to comment in depth on such matters as the United Nations’ human rights approach to the HIV epidemic and their call to decriminalize all sexual acts between consenting adults…. She shows that criminal laws—with the help of the normative discourse of religion and media—underpin and legitimize high levels of stigma, discrimination and abuse of prostitutes and males who have sex with males…. The quality of the writing and general presentation are exceptional. —Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi, Truman State University (retired)

Yu save tu olsem laip bilong man long dispela graun em pait a? Yumi stap long pait, maski yu laikim long stap long pait o nogat. Yu mas long gutpela pait na winim pait. Dispela niupela buk long pait em buk we olgeta ol lida mas ritim.

Singaut long ministri em sinagut long lidim ol manmeri. Yumi lukim gen isi isi na daunim pasin pasin we Dr. Heward-Mills i tok klia long ol ki samting mekim kamap wanpela gutpela Kristen lida stret. Ol tok tru yu lukim long hia bai pawarim planti long pasin bilong lidasip.

Tayap is a small, previously undocumented Papuan language, spoken in a single village called Gapun, in the lower Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. The language is an isolate, unrelated to any other in the area. Furthermore, Tayap is dying. Fewer than fifty speakers actively command it today. Based on linguistic anthropological work conducted over the course of thirty years, this book describes the grammar of the language, detailing its phonology, morphology and syntax. It devotes particular attention to verbs, which are the most elaborated area of the grammar, and which are complex, fusional and massively suppletive.The book also provides a full Tayap-English-Tok Pisin dictionary. A particularly innovative contribution is the detailed discussions of how Tayap’'s grammar is dissolving in the language of young speakers. The book exemplifies how the complex structures in fluent speakers’ Tayap are reduced or reanalyzed by younger speakers. This grammar and dictionary should therefore be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the mechanics of how languages disappear. The fact that it is the sole documentation of this unique Papuan language should also make it of interest to areal specialists and language typologists.

Laip em hat long olgeta lain. Planti taim, long daunim wanem samting em mekim yu hevi em wantaim save. Save em hait samting bilong God we i bai helpim yu long kirap long ol hevi bilong yu na kamap long wanpela kain sindaun. God em makim yu long kisim glori. Hait samting bilong God em save bilong God long haitpela wei we i makim yu long glory bilong yu na naispela bilong yu. Kamapim tok hait bilong dispela buk bringim yu win long olgeta de! Dispela buk bai givim yu save long win!

Em bikpela samting long save long ol liklik samting bilong salvesen na lainim ol ki we bosim niupela laip bilong ol. Ol Ki Samting long ol Niupela Bilip Manmeri em long lukim dispela nid na mekim wanpela strongpela pos bilong niupela Kristen long wokabaut wantaim win long niupela bilip bilong ol.

“Buk Baibel tokim yumi olsem yumi olgeta save mekim olsnti ol asua – tasol ol pasta em nogat wanpela as bilong ol long mekim. Ol asua em ol gat wei bilong ol yet long mekim yu go bek gen na i no long gohet. Asua ken stopim yu long gohet. Wanem kain ol asua em ol pasta ken mekim? Wanem samting bai inap long mekim 10pela bikpela asua bilong pasta? Yu ken ritim dispela gutpela buk na yu yet ken painim aut long 10pela bikpela asua we yu stap long mak bilomng mekim nah au long abrusim bikpela asua we pasta bai klostu mekim long en. Dispela bikpela buk bai wanpela blesing long yu na long ministri bilong yu.”