Violence against women epidemic

The rate of violence against women in Samoa has reached epidemic proportion, casting doubt on the widely held notion that sisters are protected in this country.

What’s more the epidemic has been identified as a “form of discrimination”, which “undervalues” women in Samoa.

And statistics support the claim.

A study carried out by the Samoa Family Health and Safety found that 46.4 per cent of women surveyed aged 15 to 49 reported experiencing physical and/or emotional and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

The concerns about violence against women are raised in the first State of Human Rights Report for Samoa.

Compiled by the Office of the Ombudsman as the National Human Rights Institution (N.H.R.I), a copy of the report has been obtained by the Samoa Observer.

“The epidemic rates of violence against women in Samoa is a form of discrimination that comes about from the systemic undervaluing of women in Samoan society and their exclusion from decision making processes,” the report reads.

“There is a need to reverse these trends, specifically violence against women and girls, and turn what is otherwise a tragedy into an opportunity. “Women hold significant value in Samoan society. 'Ole tuafafine ole 'i'oimata o lona tuagane' is a central principle of Fa'asamoa that a sister is the pupil of her brother's eye, although this relationship extends to non-related males and females also.

“Considering that sisters are to be protected, the high prevalence of violence against women in Samoa is intolerable from both a cultural standpoint as well as from a human rights perspective."

“However, within the Survey and focus group data collected, many participants felt that Fa'asamoa and human rights particularly conflicted in this area, with many citing that Fa'asamoa permits husbands to beat their wives."

“In the same vein, the CEDAW Committee expressed serious concern that violence, particularly domestic and sexual violence, against women appears to be: (1) socially legitimized, (2) accompanied by a culture of silence and impunity, and (3) insufficiently disaggregated with regards to data collection.65 Based on the Survey results, the Office shares in these concerns.”

Here is part of the report about preventing violence against women.

The Social Legitimization of Violence against Women
The automatic subordination of one gender to another allows for physical violence to become socially legitimized and unrecognized as a violation, even to the victim. Evidence suggests that violence against women is socially legitimized in Samoa. In every village consultation, this issue was raised and discussed, often without recognition that it is a violation of human rights.67 According to a study conducted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), almost 70% of the women surveyed in Samoa believed that men have a good reason to beat their wives (including if she is unfaithful, does not do the housework well, or disobeys him), while about half of the men surveyed expressed that beating a partner is justified. 68 Given that the majority of women feel men's violence towards them is justified, fighting against the normalization of violence within the home requires an approach focused on all genders, at all ages.

In the focus groups, women often (humorously) responded that they were most often beaten when they refused sex. From the Survey, adult females aged 36 and older were the group most likely to agree that there should be better access to birth control (71%). 69 Considering that sex leads to the conception of children, refusing sex in order to avoid pregnancy is understandable. However, according to a landmark study by the SPC in 2007, a whopping 90% of men thought that not wanting to get pregnant is not an acceptable reason for refusing sex. 70 Obviously, this creates an impasse that may contribute to the high rates of domestic abuse in Samoan households. It is important to highlight steps taken by the Samoan Government to criminalise marital rape in the Crimes Act 2013 to ensure this issue is addressed in the law. 71.

Culture of Silence and Impunity

Impunity is the exemption from punishment or freedom from the consequences of an action.74 Since there is a widely held belief that family difference, such as domestic violence, should be settled within the family, it helps foster a 'culture of silence' on the issue within villages.75 It is important to acknowledge that Samoa has taken measures to address this issue with the passage of the Family Safety Act (FSA) 2013, which provides for greater protection of families and the handling of domestic violence and related matters.76.

According to the Survey, a total of 39% of participants reported seeing abuse against women and girls in their village in the past year.77 Although the actual rate of abuse is likely higher, especially considering that ending violence against women was one of the most common issues raised across all methods of the data collection for this Report.78 Of those who reported seeing abuse, only one-quarter (25%) of them reported that abuse.79 It was also raised during focus groups that one reason people do not report domestic violence is due to the lack of protections for those who report. It was stated: "In a village setting, what if anything, is truly anonymous?"80 While the FSA provides for protection orders for victims, it provides no protections for those who report the abuse who are not the victims themselves, which may contribute to the low rates of reporting of domestic violence.

Insufficient Disaggregation of Data

The lack of information and statistical data regarding the high prevalence of violence and its nature, extent and causes is a major concern81 and contributes to lack of enforcement around it. It was particularly disconcerting that the data made available by the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) of the Ministry of Police (MOP) was scant and insufficiently disaggregated. A government cannot claim to be dedicated to ending violence against women if its police force does not take seriously the collection of statistical data on domestic and sexual violence disaggregated by sex, age, nationality and relationship between the victim and perpetrator.

Recommendations:

4. Government to provide dedicated funds and adequate assistance to all NGOs working on the protection of families, especially in rural areas, in cooperation with DVU. In particular, priority must be given to building a Family Violence Shelter in collaboration with SVSG to meet the needs of victims of violence.

5. AGO and SLRC to consider reviewing the Family Safety Act 2013 for the inclusion of protections for persons who report incidence of violence, including sexual violence.

6. NHRI and DVU to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to regularly collect statistical data on domestic and sexual violence disaggregated by sex, age, region (urban/ rural), and relationship between victim and perpetrator, to be reported on a quarterly basis directly to NHRI. Conclusion: While the human rights system, laws, policies, and conventions can be used to hold Samoa accountable for obligations undertaken pursuant to treaties, laws can only go so far. Change has to be felt in the culture as well as the legal code. The culture of indifference to violence towards women that clearly prevails in Samoan communities must be dismantled if the pedestal on which the faasamoa places women does not disintegrate into mere embarrassing rhetoric.