Pacific region: Action needed to protect vulnerable women from attack
Pacific leaders meeting in Auckland this week must take urgent steps to eradicate endemic violence against women in the
region, Amnesty International said today.
Rates of violence against women are some of the highest in the world, affecting two out of three female Pacific
Islanders.
"A majority of women experience abuse in the Pacific. Yet, shockingly, there are few effective mechanisms to protect
them," said Patrick Holmes, Chief Executive of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand.
Amnesty International is calling on leaders at the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Leaders' Meeting in Auckland to implement
existing legislation aimed at preventing violence against women and ensure that police and prosecutors investigate and
prosecute alleged perpetrators.
In a new report, 'Where is the dignity in that?' Women in Solomon Islands denied sanitation and safety" Amnesty
International highlights how this lack of official action affects women in the Solomon Islands, who face harassment,
attack or rape while carrying out their everyday household duties.
Women and girls are often attacked while walking long distances from "slums" or informal settlements in the Islands'
capital, Honiara, to collect clean water for cooking and cleaning, or to visit toilets. Their journeys often take them
through remote and poorly lit areas. They are particularly vulnerable on the return journey when they are carrying heavy
loads of water. ?
"Women and girls in the Solomon Islands are forced to risk their personal safety for something most of us take for
granted - clean water and basic sanitation," said Holmes.
Amnesty International spoke to women in Honiara's slums who said they were physically or sexually abused by men outside
their household, but were too frightened to make formal complaints to the authorities for fear of reprisals from their
attackers. Others said their complaints were ignored.
The Solomon Islands government has acknowledged the pervasiveness of violence against women and in 2010 introduced a
national policy to address the issue. Amnesty International welcomed the initiative, but is calling on the government to
do more.
"The Solomon Islands police must investigate all complaints by women of physical and sexual violence, and where
substantiated, prosecute the alleged perpetrators," said Holmes.
"The Solomon Islands government must also put in place measures to provide adequate water and sanitation services to
Honiara's slum dwellers," he said.
But the problem is wider than the situation in the Solomon Islands. According to Jocelyn Lai, a Board Member of the
Solomon Islands Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), "the absence of laws addressing gender-based violence is an
issue throughout the Pacific."
Amnesty International is calling on Pacific leaders to use this week's PIF Leaders' Meeting in Auckland to take urgent
action to protect vulnerable women across the region by living up to their previous promises.
In 2009, the PIF Leaders' Meeting in Cairns pledged to 'eradicate sexual and gender-based violence'. A year later they
expressed satisfaction with progress, despite the fact that their only achievement has been to set up a reference group
on the issue.
"It is not enough simply to pay lip service to eradicating violence against women. Pacific leaders must turn words into
action in Auckland by ensuring their governments respect, protect and fulfil the rights of women to live free from
violence and discrimination," says Holmes.
"Amnesty International calls on Pacific leaders to live up to their obligations under international law, and to start
acting on their pledge to eradicate violence against women."
Ends/
Notes to editors
Amnesty International will present a 20,000 strong petition calling on Pacific Leaders to fulfil their commitment to end
violence against women.
This work forms part of Amnesty International's Demand Dignity campaign, which focuses on human rights violations that
drive and deepen poverty. As part of the campaign, Amnesty International is focusing on human rights violations against
people living in slums, or informal settlements. Amnesty International is calling on all governments to end forced
evictions, ensure equal access to public services, and promote the active participation of people living in slums in
decisions and processes that impact their lives.