A Commission of Inquiry has started hearing witness statements on domestic violence in Samoa. In the first week of hearings, a woman testified that she was a victim of physical abuse from her husband for many years, and every time she lodged a complaint with the Police, she was turned away and the assaults were never investigated. Members of the clergy have questioned their own ministries and Samoan culture in entrenching domestic violence.
Samoa's Commission of Inquiry into Domestic Violence begins.
Nuanua i Samalaeulu, Samoa Source: SBS, Samoan Program
The Secretary-General of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa says physical punishment has become a norm and accepted as part of culture. In a country where the saying - 'Father is the Head of the Family' - is taken as self-evident truth, women and children will always be vulnerable to the whims of the father.
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