A review of Samoa's current legislative and regulatory frameworks that should contribute to an enabling environment to reduce gender-based violence says there are still barriers.

These are the findings of a policy and legislative review of sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in Samoa, which was commissioned by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the Australian Government funded Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific programme. 

A report "Sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in Samoa: A review policy and legislation" was produced by three authors from The University of Melbourne and was jointly produced by the Australian university and the UNFPA. 

The report stated that there are a variety of policies that make up Samoa's strategy to reduce gender-based violence and listed the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (launched the National Policy on Family Safety: Elimination of Family Violence 2021-2031, which the report says is the first standalone national policy addressing family violence (the most prevalent form of GBV in Samoa). 

While the policy includes an Implementation Plan and briefly outlines an annual workplan and budget process, the report says it lacks necessary detail. 

Additionally, the Samoa Interagency Services Guide (IESG) to Gender-Based Violence and Child Protection (2021) helps support a multisectoral response to GBV, however, the report said it does not require a commitment from key GBV service providers to adhere to guidelines. 

And the report also noted that there is a need to improve GBV data collection, specifically focusing on data standardisation.

The report then said its desk review findings also "suggest a need to revise the legal and policy framework around sexual violence." 

"For instance, the Crimes Act 2013 narrowly defines rape as involving ‘non-consensual penetration of the female’s genitalia by male penis’ and distinguishes rape from non-consensual ‘sexual connection’, which has a much broader definition," reads the report. 

"There are also distinct legal challenges in Samoa since its Constitution does not clearly establish the relationship between customary and statutory law. 

"Findings indicate that customary reconciliation such as ifoga (traditional apology) has resulted in a sentence reduction in cases involving violence against women.

The report also looked at the health response to GBV in Samoa and concluded that, "there has historically been a lack of clinical guidelines to help identify and manage GBV cases in Samoa". 

"At the time of writing this review however, Standard Operating Procedures for Clinical Management of Rape Sexual Violence and Gender-based Violence were finalised, which draw from WHO best practices. This should help establish clear procedures, roles, and responsibilities for providers across the health care system in Samoa."

In terms of sexual and reproductive rights and gender-based violence, the report said while most of Samoa's policies and plans target the youth as a "key population group", it concluded that there were legal and policy gaps in Samoa.

As an example, the report pointed to the absence of legislation to integrate sex education into the national school curriculum.

"For example, education is compulsory for boys and girls, but there is no legislation that mandates the integration of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) into the national school curriculum. 

"Additionally, the law allows for marriage of women aged under 18 years (the minimum age is 16 years), and forced marriage is not criminalised. 

"There also is currently no comprehensive legislative framework for the protection of children, and it is unclear how the Child Care and Protection Bill 2013 is progressing through to the Legislative Assembly."

For people with disabilities, the report said the current legal and policy frameworks in Samoa are still inadequate, in terms of addressing the needs of people with disabilities.

"There are no legislative protections for the SRHR of people with disabilities (including the right to reproductive choice). 

"Similarly, while some policies and plans identify people with disabilities as a key population group (e.g. MWCSD Strategic Corporate Plan and the IESG), this often does not translate into specific actionable guidelines or targets to improve GBV and SRH service provision for people with disabilities."

The e-copy of the 108-page report was released online in June this year and can be accessed through the UNFPA Pacific website. The University of Melbourne authors are Joanne Rowe, Lila Moosad and Cathy Vaughan who led consultations with the Samoa Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance, Samoa Red Cross Society and the National University of Samoa. The consultations were done in December last year.