A women's rights body says traditional apology or “Ifoga” should not be accepted as a mitigating factor in gender-based violence, sexual assault and rape cases to lower sentences.

Founder of Brown Girl Woke Maleseu Dorris Tulifau, said the organisation believes that an act of a customary apology should not be acceptable in situations involving rape and sexual harassment of minors.

Courts is Samoa still recognise the practice of ifoga as a mitigating factor whereby the accused shows remorse by performing the traditional apology, however, this view is not shared by the activists.

Maleseu said assailants have to face the consequences of their actions and no amount of apology should act as a mitigating factor to drop sentencing.

“No, I don't believe a ‘ifoga’ should be utilised because it involves a single victim and is only appropriate in family and village matters. Since they are ashamed of what their family and community think of them, most victims are reluctant to speak up,” she said.

She said her organisation works with children and young women who were victims of sexual crimes. She said dealing with them has made them realise that an apology does not do justice to the victims.

She the trauma and suffering the victims have is for a life time. She said a traditional apology is used for village disputes and civil disagreements because it is right to apologise between villages.

She said Brown Girl Woke feels that perpetrators of rape and sex crimes are relying on traditional apologies to escape with lesser sentences.

“The ‘Ifoga’ is not a mitigating factor to lower one's sentence delivered by court. Bad and inconsiderate people will have to pay for their wrong-doings,” Maleseu said.

“As president of the organisation, I don’t think the act of apology should be accepted by the courts as harsher sentences will deter would be offenders.”

“We need to make sure a ‘ifoga’ is only used for traditional and cultural events like land disputes and not rape cases. Especially when rape cases that are usually found in the ages five to 15 years old boys and girls, that still can’t speak up for themselves.

“It bothers me so much that the majority of the rapists are in between the ages of 30 and 40 years old.”

According to Brown Girl Woke, there are some instances when the traditional apology is used by perpetrators to persuade many families not to file matters with the police and therefore many cases go unreported.