"Violence is not an easy word for me to explain; violence is a word that makes me afraid because it happened to me," a young victim of abuse and violence told the Samoa Victim Support Group psychosocial team at the Campus of Hope.

The team led the safe space "talanoa" sessions with the campus kids last week as part of its 16 Days of Activism against the elimination of violence.

The on-campus project aimed to improve the kids' comprehension of violence and how to plan defences against their abusers. The children were divided into six groups by the SVSG psychological team of expert counsellors, who allowed each youngster to freely express their views on violence.

The on-campus "talanoa" helped increase the confidence of disadvantaged and impoverished kids to confront this social issue by meeting SVSG social service deliverables through psychosocial support and counselling. 

"The SVSG counselling facilitators were moved, astounded, and inspired by the children's bravery and self-assurance in discussing violence," said SVSG president Siliniu Lina Chang.

"Additionally, children were able to freely express their opinions regarding safer families.

"Children were remarkably moved by the emotive themes, according to the results of the SVSG on campus "Talanoa" on violence"

Child victims shared their knowledge and experience regarding the root causes of domestic abuse. It showed the children's awareness of family violence from their lived experiences, and the counsellors and children participants sympathised with their varied family experiences.

"Children and counselling facilitators were able to talk about their common experiences with alcohol and money issues as major causes," said Siliniu.

"The SVSG facilitation team saw how courageous and self-assured the kids were to speak out against violence. 

"SVSG would be able to use the results and lessons learned from the "talanoa" activity to inform its conceptual approaches in future anti-violence programs."