Lea ua te’a i lagi le fetu ta’imatagi ma ua tatou fa’amua mea i Matautusā, i la tatou fa’asagi ma le fa’apolo auā lo tatou Tapaau Sili o i le lagi. 

• Lau Susuga i le Taitai o le Sauniga;
• Susuga i le Aufaigaluega Paia a le Atua; 
• Le tamatai Taitaifono ole RWG ma sui usufono mamalu;
• Susuga i Fa’auluuluga o Matagaluega a le Mālō ma Fa’alapotopotoga Tumaoti
• Susuga i Tofi Pulenuu ma Sui Tama’ita’i, Tupu ma E’e, Saoao ma Tamaita’i

O le a ta’oto ia sā o le vao filifili aua o paia e fa’aenegata, ma e mai le vavau lea seia o’o i le fa’avavau. E faigata Samoa e mamala ona tala, e faitala aitu e faitala fo’i tagata, ae ta’oto atu ia i se filiaoa pa’ia o Samoa. O le a agatonu ia le pua nai Aganoa, e su’i tonu foi le mata o le niu ma ifo tonu i le niusina le ū o le tologa e ala i le fa’amoemoe o lenei aso. 

E lē na ma le lāina, o sauaga e fa’asaga i tinā ma tama’ita’i ua avea pea ma fa’afitauli ōgaōga ua ōia ai le vā aemaise o aiā tatau iinei i Samoa ae faapea foi isi atunuu o le Pasefika. E matuia ma mata’utia lenei fa’afitauli ona o le fa’atuputupulaia pea o nei sauaga fa’a-lotoifale. E le po se lilo o lo’o lava lo outou silafia ma iloa i le ogaoga o le aafiaga o o tatou tagata mai i lenei faamai pepesi (se’i tulou).  E momoli pea le viiga i le Tama i le lagi, ona o lenei avanoa taua ua ia foai mai e faasoa ai i le nei faafitauli taua.  

Ae, o se vaivaiga, e faapea, talu ai ona o lo’o filogia lenei fonotaga aemaise le mamalu o sui usufono na malaga mai i atunuu mamao e le malamalama i le tatou gagana, o lea o le’a faaauau ai lenei folasaga tomua i le gagana fa’a-peretania. 

For our non-Samoan speaking delegates, in case you’re wondering what I was saying just now, I have just delivered a short salutation as is customary in our Fa'asamoa or culture. I have also apologised in advance to my good people as I intend to switch to my English mother tongue language from my country of birth, England.

• Reverend Ma’auga Motu;
• Church leaders; 
• Madam, Chairperson of the RWG, Mrs Joy Heine;  
• Fellow members of the RWG counselling subcommittee and esteemed delegates of the SPC and this forum; 
• Chief Executive Officers of Government Ministries;
• Representatives of Civil Societies and Faith Based Organisations; and
• Observers joining us today

I wish to extend my warmest welcome to you all and acknowledge the presence of each of you.  We praise our Lord’s holy name for making this gathering possible.

I must say I am honoured to be invited to deliver the address at this auspicious event. I suppose it befits the occasion, for a judge presiding in the Family Violence Court of Samoa, to deliver this address given our involvement in that court. 

I need not mention that violence against women/girls and gender inequality remains prevalent issue in our respective societies. We live, see, hear, walk and breathe it. The corridor of the Family Violence Court is flooded with cases of this nature. We see day in and out, the heartbreaking sight of our women, young girls and children battered by violence and abuse of all sorts appearing in court to recite their horrible experience. In the Supreme Court, fathers, uncles, brothers and close relatives are being sentenced, to lengthy incarceration terms for raping one of their own. Our daughters and sisters are indecently assaulted and abused. Our mothers/daughters/ sisters are bashed from left to right accompanied by verbal abuse and threats; leaving behind a destructive aftermath of emotional and psychological trauma. 

We breathe and see each day, the suffering our women /girls experience; silently killing their spirit and what little glimmer of hope they have. As a Coroner, I have seen firsthand countless incidents of suicide with our daughters/sisters/mothers, taking their lives or committing self-inflicted harm due to severe emotional trauma and distress from domestic violence and abuse.  

Each day, we see infinite incidents of a vicious cycle of violence. We see vulnerability and acceptance that violence is normal and therefore OKAY. We see an endless public outcry for help but little, if not, none is available. 

We each, see a lot; the good, the bad and the ugly. It is not at all a pretty picture. We can do the island thing, joke about it and say…oh well “these are the days of our lives.” The big difference however is, this is not a soap opera. It is our reality.   But what are we doing about it? Is the answer locking up and passing sterner sentences on the culprits? Should we continue to turn a blind eye and sweep this under the papa laufala/mat? Should we pass more laws? Or should we start walking the talk and try a different pathway? Your being here gives a glimmer of hope in exploring options and a workable framework that is suitable and relevant to our Pasefika people.   

Violence against women/girls/children is like the global COVID-19 pandemic. It does not spare anyone irrespective of age, ethnicity, religion or economic status. It does not discriminate. Yet despite its prevalence, it is the least recognized form of human rights abuse in the world. The United Nations reported that globally, one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused at some point in her life. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action paragraph 112 states and I quote: 

"Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms... In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture." 

Our Pasefika region is not exempted from domestic violence and gender inequality. In fact, I venture further to say that it is so deeply embedded or rooted in our societies that it has become far too normalized and ignored. The alarming statistics speak for itself. Two out of three women in the Pacific are experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner. How did we get to this point? How will we resolve it? These are indeed heavy questions that batter the mind, but they must be asked.  

You are here because you genuinely care and wish to implement changes to help combat this social evil. But one thing is for sure, we must start at the grassroots. The Courts are at the end of the spectrum of the legal process. It can only do so much. In terms of rehabilitation and counselling, it can only work with the limited resources and service providers available. We are indeed most grateful for the invaluable counselling services offered by our people including non-government and faith-based organisations and good Samaritans in our respective communities. They deserve credit and acknowledgement for their selfless acts of kindness that makes a difference.  

I am sure we mutually agree that counselling is one area that is lacking and I am so ecstatic to see that you have identified this as a priority area; hence this workshop. As Family Violence Court judges, we have had to take a holistic approach on the rehabilitation of offenders and healing for victims of domestic violence. On numerous occasions, we engage in sourcing counselling services of our spiritual and community leaders, simply because we care and due to the grave concern with addressing the roots of the problem and deterrence of future incidents. We have identified that the key to this process is the involvement of our spiritual and community leaders. So it is an understatement to say “that the struggle is real.” Obviously, more must be done.

At this juncture, I would like to share with you a criminal matter I recently encountered of a young woman, aged 18. It was discovered during the sentencing stage that she was previously a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her own uncle when she was about 12 years old. She was sheltered under the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) for about 3 years. Not long after she was released from SVSG, she started getting into trouble, committing multiple offences involving obtaining by deception, theft and others. Her victims were mainly taxi drivers. As a result of her offending spree and conduct, her family ostracized and abandoned her. 

During the sentencing hearing, it was unravelled that on each occasion before she committed the offences, the male complainants would take her to either a lodge, friend’s house or secluded place where alcohol was consumed, followed by sexual intercourse and her taking off with their properties. A common pattern was deciphered. This set off alarm bells and I started asking questions where Probation and the young woman herself, confirmed my suspicions that she was in fact a victim of sexual abuse.  

Although I am not an expert, there were obvious red flags pointing to plausible symptoms of delayed post-traumatic disorder which this young woman exhibited as a victim of abuse. I saw that there was a grave need for counselling to help get her back on track. I also saw that her family was key to her recovery and healing. So I called in her grandparents and mother and gave them a rundown of their daughter's cases, the end result if she continues to re-offend, her silent cries for help and their role in exacerbating the problem by abandoning her at her most vulnerable time when she needed them most. Well, this is actually a toned-down version of me giving them a piece of my mind so to speak. 

The grandparents were quite apologetic and empathetic of their daughter’s plight and decided to take responsibility for her. The mother informed her current husband did not want to have anything to do with her daughter so I gave her a “nice” pep talk reminding her of her duties as a parent especially since her daughter being 18, is still regarded as an infant by definition under the Infants Ordinance 1961. I also reached out directly to one of the church Ministers who previously worked with my brother judges in the Youth Court, if he could take on this young woman for counselling under the supervision of her grandparents. I am very appreciative that he gladly agreed to help and as far as I’m aware counselling is going well. 

This case is one of the many examples of our battered women or victims of abuse being neglected and not receiving professional counselling services after their traumatic experience. Because she did not receive that help, she embarked on a dangerous journey down the dark alleyway and her life was spiralling down under. 

This story further brings home the point that more must be done from the ground level up; that it is not enough to just flag ideas and discuss at high-level discussions. NO! More must be done and we must walk the talk. The last thing we want to see is our women and young girls being known as just “a case” or “victim” and soon forgotten like the young woman in the story I just shared with you. 

It is publically recorded that gender-based violence is rooted in inequality and exacerbated by socio-economic hardship.   So the source of the problem should be the focus. Before a person gets to the court system, the social-economic roots of the problem must be addressed first. Our respective Governments and evaluation policies should not stop at implementing survivor services but must also tackle the root or source of the problem. 

As we know, the majority of Pasefika nations are classified as developing nations. Yes, we are not rich and lack resources. Yes, there is a huge brick wall acting as a stumbling block; it is called our “mindsets.” This, however, has been repeatedly used as a “shield” for the lack of action. But should this stifle efforts to eradicate this problem? NO! It should never be an excuse. Why?  Because, whilst we are busy hiding behind the veil of colourful excuses and fancy superlatives, our women and young girls are being violated and abused unabated. They continue to suffer violence and gender inequality.   

Where do we find the answer? The answer comes from within us as tagata o le Pasefika. Our collective efforts and standing in solidarity will provide the answer. Your being here as part of the Counselling Technical Taskforce to develop a framework for regional GBV /DV counselling services for implementation regionally and nationally, is a step in the right direction. 

Of course, our Pasefika nations have made significant progress/inroads by enacting domestic violence legislation. However, this is not the end of the road. It is only the beginning. The general regional GBV/DV Draft framework is a good start. But do bear in mind that the final document must be contextualized to reflect the cultural, legal and social perspective of each member country. It is not a one-size-fits-all-all. What may apply in our sister Melanesian and Micronesian countries, will not necessarily apply in Polynesia.    

The Pacific region is spearheading important developments that accelerate the joint work in eliminating domestic violence and advancing gender equality. These include the 14th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women in 2021, ongoing efforts to revitalize the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration, and the inclusion of gender equality as an agenda item in the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting scheduled for 2023.

Additionally, the Pacific Women Lead Program, funded by the Australian Government to promote gender equality, and the broader regional development priority of the Blue Pacific Continent further reinforces that collective vision. Samoa is currently hosting a Pacific Regional sharing workshop on the implementation of recommendations for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for the Pacific. Just this morning, I read an article in the Samoa Observer where Supreme Court Justice Vui Clarence Nelson, a known champion of children’s rights, lamented his concerns about the rising incidents of family violence against children including young girls.    

We stand at a critical juncture of our lives, where we can collectively make a difference in the lives of the voiceless. Where we can empower our women and girls to rise above all challenges and be heard. Where we can show them that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and that there is hope.  Where there is a will, there is a way.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the pivotal role each of you plays in advancing the collective goals of the Regional Working Group and associated subcommittees. You have all worked diligently to provide recommendations and drive progress to eradicate domestic violence against women and girls and to boost gender equality. You are unsung heroes. I salute you. 

I am confident you will use this golden opportunity over the next two days to share ideas and engage in productive discussions. I wish you all fruitful deliberations and collaborative engagement with meaningful outcomes to follow. Remembering always that we are proud people of the Pasefika and that united we stand, divided we fall. Most of all, always remember that nothing is impossible as our Lord God is with us all the way. As Rev. Maauga gently reminded in the sermon this morning, our Lord will ease our burden regardless of how heavy. Our God is good; all the time God is good.  Thank you for listening to my novel. May our Lord bless each of us and the work we do to serve and honour Him.  

Ia famanuia tele le Alii i le lenei fonotaga ma ia maua se ai taua o lo outou tautiga. 

Ae o tatou famavae i le mavaega a Tavita ma Ionatana, ia tu pea Ieova i lo ta va

Soifua ia ma ia manuia 

Faafetai 

• Judge Alalatoa Rosella Viane Papalii gave this keynote address at the Regional GBV/VAWG Counselling Framework Samoa Socialisation and Consultation Workshop which was run from 21–23 November 2023.