Transcript
MAIAVA IULAI TOMA: We knew that this problem was growing in the world. I mean we see it in the world. Everywhere it's growing. We knew that it was happening here also. We see what the world is doing, the measures they're taking - special courts, special police units, special social services etc - and we have been copying some of those things ourselves but the problem still grew.
DOMINIC GODFREY: I guess in Samoa there are traditional fa'a Samoa institutions that can be potentially reinforced to help with these contemporary problems.
MIT: Well this is it Dominic. As you know, much of the Samoan population live in communities where the traditional institutions exercise a lot of power in their daily life, more so than the government itself. And we know that there is great capacity there for these institutions to do something. There hasn't been readiness, even diffidence I think, within these institutions to deal with family violence for all sorts of reasons. So as a result, violence has been left pretty much to the central government authorities when things have to be dealt with formally as violations of the criminal law - and the police, and the courts, and the prison authorities, and the voluntary organisations like victim support bodies are landed with the problem. But we've believed in this office that there is tremendous capacity out there in the community within institutions that are influential in Samoan society to do something about this thing and we felt that it's vital to have them engage with the problem from the very start, where it's happening, so that we can find Samoan solutions and have the Samoan community grapple with this thing, seriously, and resolve it. That's the whole purpose of this inquiry.
DG: Back in November, you said to me you think the matais should be more active in dealing with the problem of domestic violence.
MIT: Yeah…
DG: Has that conviction changed at all or been reinforced by what you've seen?
MIT: It's been reinforced. I am more convinced than ever that we need to involve them, have them engaged in this. It's imperative that these traditional institutions, which are influential in changing or regulating behaviour in the villages, are engaged. We have to engage them in confronting the problem and to bringing about change. But then of course we have to really look at these institutions to see that they can truly provide solutions and that they're not a significant part of the problem. So we have to look at those, and to look at attitudes in there that may be getting them to hold back on these things. And we have to empower them to act but we need also to ensure that there are checks to guard against the abuse of power. Those are all the elements we need to look at and we hope to do so in our report with recommendations to parliament.
