‘We deserve to be safe’ – With better access to gender-based violence services, women in the Solomon Islands are speaking up

Rolyn works as a team leader at the local Family Support Center, a crisis centre for women and girls facing gender-based violence.

Some days, she sets off from Neo Island at 6 a.m., bringing women on an hour-long boat journey to the island of Santa Cruz, where they can access police and a hospital, and counselling services at the crisis centre.

Globally, one in three women experience violence in their lifetime. In Soloman Islands, a national study in 2009 revealed a higher prevalence of violence against women, with nearly two in three women aged 15 to 49 reporting physical or sexual violence—or both—by an intimate partner. Most women suffered in silence, with few seeking help from public services; and when they did, it was typically after the abuse had caused serious injuries.

To curb this epidemic of violence, seven government and nongovernmental service providers—including the police, hospitals, and crisis centres—joined forces to establish SAFENET.

“When service providers fail to respond appropriately [to gender-based violence], I report it to the SAFENET Committee,” said Rolyn.

UN Women has supported the SAFENET network under the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Women, Youth, Children, and Family Affairs. In 2019, SAFENET expanded to the country’s outer provinces, including Temotu—which includes Neo Island. In the two years that followed, the number of gender-based violence cases received by SAFENET’s health providers tripled.

“When there are more trained healthcare providers, there is a higher reporting of violence, because women are more likely to seek services when they know quality services are available,” said Nashly Votozo, a gender-based violence officer at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Votozo trains nurses across the country on how to respond to sexual and gender-based violence.

“While all healthcare providers know how to treat patients, the approach is quite different when it comes to gender-based violence,” she said. “You need techniques to identify gender-based violence from other cases, build trust with survivors to disclose, interpret their body language, conduct medical examination and write accurate reports. It has to be ethical and survivor-centred.”

Mary (a pseudonym) is one survivor who sought help from SAFENET after her husband’s abuse during her pregnancy resulted in the loss of their baby.

“I realized that if I continued to stay with him, he would eventually kill me too,” Mary said. “I remained silent for many years, but stories of women who had received services from SAFENET encouraged me to finally seek help.”

Upon her arrival at a local SAFENET facility, a police officer promptly issued a protection order and escorted Mary to a local hospital for treatment. She also received counselling at a crisis centre and, with the assistance of a lawyer, initiated legal proceedings against her husband.

“I don't know what I would have done without this support. I am thankful to the government for assisting women and girls who may be going through what I experienced,” she said. “We deserve to survive. We deserve to be safe. And now, I finally feel safe. When I walk out, I will share my story with my friends, so they too feel inspired to seek help.”

“UN Women's strength lies in connecting prevention and response work,” said Doris Puiahi, UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women Girls Coordinator who oversees the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme in Solomon Islands. This programme is primarily funded by the Government of Australia, the European Union, and is jointly coordinated by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)

In addition to gender-based violence counseling and support services, SAFENET’s provincial committees also support outreach efforts through churches, schools, and other institutions to reject discriminatory attitudes and prevent violence against women. .

"I've seen big changes in our community," says Rolyn. "Previously, men made all decisions at home, in public meetings, and in churches. Women sat at the back and listened to what men decided. But now, people recognize women as good decision-makers, and the status of women is rising.”

“We now have three women chiefs on our island,” she said. “When women are abused or sexually harassed, they come and see us. Women and girls are gaining confidence to speak up.”