Australia is helping female survivors of violence in rural Samoa access critical services over three years (2012-2015) under the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program (Pacific Women).
In 2005, the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) was established to provide assistance to survivors of violence against women who did not have support from family members. Ten years later, the organisation offers a variety of services to survivors and their families, including a 24-hour hotline, a community alert system in rural areas, short-term shelter services, and legal assistance.
In the capital city of Apia, where the SVSG started, women have access to immediate short-term care and safety through shelter services, and another shelter provides room and board for children whose parents or caregivers have been subjected to violence. SVSG has lodged most of the protection orders processed by Samoa's Family Violence Court.
Ms Lina Chang, SVSG founder, said rape and sex were taboo subjects in Samoan communities and part of their success had been breaking through that silence. This was the inspiration behind the country's first public campaign against rape in 2010. The campaign was also the beginning of the Strong Communities, Strong Families program that saw SVSG go out into the villages for the first time.
'We had to learn as much as we could before we went out there; we had to know the village system well, and how the law could cover us,' Ms Chang said. 'Then we had to speak to the elders, because if you don't have their support you can't do anything.'
These early activities led to the establishment of a community alert system that now involves more than 400 village representatives in 166 villages across the country.
Mobile phones and networks play an important role in giving people in these villages access to SVSG's services. Many village representatives use their own phones and buy their own credit.
SVSG's 24-hour helpline was launched in 2013. Staffed by a roster of 25 trained counsellors, the helpline attracts calls from across the community–from parents wanting help with their children, to children who feel they can't talk to their parents, to informers concerned about violence or child abuse, and even perpetrators asking for help.
SVSG is a grant recipient of UN Women's Pacific Regional Ending Violence against Women Facility Fund, which is principally funded by Pacific Women.
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