Listening to communities to guide the development of the National Prevention Framework

Actions and programmes to prevent violence against women and girls in Samoa will be more coordinated, focused and relevant under a National Prevention Framework that is informed by fundamental cultural and religious principles and the knowledge and lived experience of every person within a community.

The Ministry of Women Community and Social Development leads the development of the Framework with the support of the  Spotlight Initiative United Nations (UN) delivering agencies including the UN Women, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNICEF.

“The idea behind the Framework is that it is designed based on the issues, needs and solutions identified by the communities on how to best prevent violence against women and girls,” said Afamasaga Faauiga Afamasaga, the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development.

“It is very important to understand the cultural, religious and social attitudes that drive intimate partner violence and domestic violence in Samoa,” says Simona Marinescu, Resident Coordinator for the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau. “We also need to better appreciate what is preventing women and girls from seeking help and being able to identify the gaps within the response services – and how the government and its partners can better offer assistance. This requires speaking to and listening to the voices of all groups within a community, including those that are traditionally marginalized and silenced.”

To listen and understand the perspectives of the communities on the issue of violence against women and girls, the Spotlight Initiative Civil Society Organization National Reference Groups (CSO-NRG)  created a safe space for the communities through a series of community conversations where they were able to share their knowledge and experiences on the causes and types of violence and solutions to prevent violence against women and girls. The conversations enabled the Spotlight Initiative UN delivering agencies to compile a collection of information, community opinions, indigenous and cultural perspectives and stories that will inform the design, content and actioning of the Framework.

These conversations enabled an understanding of perspectives on intimate partner violence and domestic violence from diverse groups – including women, young people, the elderly, people with disabilities, men and boys, academics and researchers, persons with diverse gender and sexual orientations, and village matai (chiefs).

These conversations did not leave out the communities of persons with disabilities and persons with diverse gender and sexual orientations. These are some of the most vulnerable demographic groups when it comes to intimate partner violence and domestic violence in Samoa. 

Community activists and organizations are already expressing why they are often vulnerable to violence and abuse through consultations - and this information will be invaluable to the development of the framework. “Because of our disabilities, we cannot protect ourselves from physical violence and sexual violence, and it is hard for us to report,” says a community activist campaigning for people with disabilities. “Prevention measures that are appropriate for persons with disabilities, will help us very much.”

According to data collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, 52 per cent of Samoan women and girls between the ages of 15-49 say they have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner, with 18.7 per cent experiencing it in the last 12 months. 21.7 per cent say they have experienced sexual violence, with half of saying that this has occurred in the last 12 months. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the privations caused by the COVID-19 crisis may have exacerbated this issue.

The EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Samoa programme is a partnership that supports the development of policies, institutional strengthening, prevention, data collection, response services, and civil society engagement to end violence against women and girls.