Bid to address violence

GOVERNMENT will soon implement a National Prevention Strategy aimed at reducing and addressing cases of violence against women.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa said this would be a first for the nation.

She said the strategy would rope in the Ministry of Education to educate boys at school level about the importance of respecting girls, women and their vital role in fighting domestic violence.

“For the Ministry of Women being responsible for policies and strategies, we are organising an event so in the next few months we will be consolidating a National Prevention Strategy,” she said.

“We currently don’t have one consultative and inclusive process so this strategy will include all stakeholders.

“For this strategy to be effective, everyone needs to take ownership because we cannot do it in isolation.”

Mrs Vuniwaqa said faith-based organisations and community leaders would also be included.

“Faith-based organisations are strong platforms for any social issues and violence against women is one of them.

“I have said this in forums, that a lot can be achieved by religious leaders if they talked more on violence against women from within their religious organisations.

“I have also been encouraged to see some religious leaders posting messages on social media about addressing issues of violence against women and that’s great.”

Mrs Vuniwaqa added that the strategy would be designed to effectively address the issue.

“Many times when we talk about domestic violence, we usually have this perception that men and boys are not important but they are the key factor which we need to address.

“A lot of times when we talk about violence against women, we forget about the psychology behind it so we need to address that effectively.

“So this strategy will help address that and for the boys, we will work closely with the Ministry of Education.”