The founder of a youth-focused local not-for-profit organisation has called for clarity in the Government’s anti-violence messaging focused on families.

Brown Girl Woke (B.G.W.) founder Maluseu Doris Tulifau told the Samoa Observer that there is still misunderstanding within families on the difference between physical violence and child discipline. 

"We are still not understanding the difference between discipline and physical violence,” she said when asked for her views on the appropriate forms of child discipline.

"We have to work together from home, school, Government and any place that disciplines our children [there must be] rules and policies to keep them safe.

"The high number of youth committing suicide, more case for youth sexually abuse, this all deals with violence and studies show 90 per cent of the time within the home."

Samoa should adopt a zero-tolerance policy on student-focused physical punishment and families should be taught non-violent approaches, according to Maluseu.

"We need to understand that Samoa needs zero tolerance at every level because of the high statistics in sexual abuse, rape, suicide and physical violence – this all deals with some type of violence in perpetrator life,” she said.

"So we cannot have violence okay for any reason because Samoa needs to still make it clear to families the difference between violence and discipline.

"We need to change the method but keep the message – alternative is to hear our children out, give them the chance to speak and be heard.

"We also need to send more messages about what violence creates and what might become of their children in a violent home."

In terms of ending violence against women and girls, Maluseu said they concluded a three-month counselling training programme under the Spotlight Initiative to have peer counselling at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) and the University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) Samoa Campus.

"We had nine graduates that will keep receiving training throughout the year and still conduct safe spaces at the university for anyone to come too," she said.

"We also have grocery programmes for domestic violence families that need help from separating from their families to keep them safe."

The B.G.W. also runs a school and college-focused literacy programme which has seen over 10,000 titles distributed last year. 

Asked if education institutions are doing enough to improve child literacy, she said the B.G.W. had helped five schools that did not have books.

"We need more access to books for the literacy level of our children to be higher,” Maluseu said.

“Although these schools are in rural areas these are the communities that are more at risk because access to resources help.”

Last year the United Nations Office in Samoa released the findings of a survey titled "Demographic and Health - Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey DHS-MICS" which was done in partnership with the Samoa Bureau Statistics between 2019-2020.

According to the survey’s report, 90.8 per cent of children aged 14 and below experienced physical punishment or psychological aggression by caregivers in the month preceding the survey, up from 86 per cent who have been punched, kicked or assaulted and 87 per cent who were subjected to verbal abuse as identified in the National Family Inquiry of 2017.

The percentage of children aged 5-17 who have been involved in child labour stood at close to 14 per cent.

The school performance of children aged 7-14 had also returned some concerning numbers, as only 45.5 per cent were able to complete three foundational reading tasks, and only 22.7 per cent completed four foundational number tasks with even lower rates for those in the second grade.