Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

“I want to share my personal story, however, <strong>the</strong>re are many women in Vanuatu who
fall into this situation. My husband was a member <strong>of</strong> parliament, but when he lost his
seat in parliament he returned to his island. He died in 1997 while I was in Fiji attending
a workshop. I could not return before <strong>the</strong> burial. When I got home my in-laws were angry
with me for not being <strong>the</strong>re for him. But I felt cheated because I found out he had been
seeing ano<strong>the</strong>r woman in <strong>the</strong> village, who <strong>the</strong> family had approved.
I was thrown out from my matrimonial home and all my things were thrown out <strong>of</strong> my
matrimonial house. I encouraged my son to go regularly and clean <strong>the</strong> matrimonial
house and care for it. I told my son, he is <strong>the</strong> only son so he still has full rights to <strong>the</strong>
land.
I can no longer go freely to <strong>the</strong> village. I cannot sleep in my matrimonial house. I cannot
harvest crops from <strong>the</strong> land my husband and I jointly cultivated or benefit
from <strong>the</strong> cattle we had. I cannot go and make garden freely for my son and his wife.
I lost <strong>the</strong> land and <strong>the</strong> house. I am now unwelcome in <strong>the</strong> place I called home for
26 years, which is emotionally very hard. Being landless is a strange and strong
feeling. Finally, I purchased my own land, which relieved that feeling.” (Merilyn Tahi,
Vanuatu)
Policies and practices <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> judiciary, police and service agencies fail to adequately accommodate
those women who have escaped situations <strong>of</strong> domestic violence. Government agencies, <strong>the</strong> police, and
law implementing agencies <strong>of</strong>ten discriminate against women because <strong>the</strong>y do not understand <strong>the</strong>ir
particular circumstances. Service agencies also fail to accommodate women experiencing domestic
violence. There are few homes for adult women with disabilities, and thus, in <strong>the</strong> event that a woman
with disability needs to be relocated because <strong>of</strong> exposure to violence, it is difficult to find her
accommodation. Judicial processes also tend to be very slow (e.g. court orders can take a long time
to obtain), and this increases women’s hardship and restricts <strong>the</strong>ir access to affordable housing.
“Sally is 19 years old and is physically disabled. Sally’s mo<strong>the</strong>r called FWCC and
reported that Sally was being sexually abused by her fa<strong>the</strong>r. Both <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r and <strong>the</strong>
daughter were very scared. The mo<strong>the</strong>r had suffered years <strong>of</strong> emotional, physical and
psychological abuse from her husband. FWCC contacted <strong>the</strong> Social Welfare
Department but no action was taken. In <strong>the</strong> end FWCC counsellors removed Sally, her
mo<strong>the</strong>r and younger sister from <strong>the</strong> house and arranged temporary accommodation at
<strong>the</strong> Salvation Army Family Care Centre. However, after sometime Sally’s mo<strong>the</strong>r
returned to her husband. Sally had to be moved to various places because <strong>the</strong>re
were no adequate facilities to meet her needs; she was especially vulnerable due
to her disabilities. She is currently in <strong>the</strong> care <strong>of</strong> an institution that provides education
for children with disabilities; however this place is temporary and is not appropriate
for her because she is an adult.” (Case Study ‘Sally’, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre,
Fiji)
If women had <strong>the</strong> right to security <strong>of</strong> tenure, to ownership <strong>of</strong> land and housing, and to adequate housing
and living conditions, would it reduce <strong>the</strong> incidence <strong>of</strong> domestic violence against women If women
had ownership rights, or enjoyed joint ownership and o<strong>the</strong>r conditions <strong>of</strong> truly adequate housing, would
that contribute to <strong>the</strong> reduction <strong>of</strong> violence
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 23