Cook Islands - Pacific Prevention of Domestic Violence Programme

Cook Islands
PART 1: PACIFIC PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
PROGRAMME – THE FOUR COUNTRY STUDY
This research was part of the wider Pacific Prevention of Domestic Violence Programme
(PPDVP). The PPDVP is an initiative of the New Zealand Agency for International
Development (NZAID), New Zealand Police (NZPOL) and the Pacific Islands Chiefs of
Police (PICP). The programme builds on earlier NZAID and NZPOL support for domestic
violence prevention in the Pacific. Feedback from earlier programmes indicates that while the
assistance was well received, there was a need for more consistent and on-going support. The
initial programme duration is five years.
The long-term goal of the PPDVP is “a safer Pacific free from domestic violence”. Its
primary focus is building the capacity of Pacific Police services to prevent and respond
effectively to domestic violence. The programme involves components at both the regional
and national level. At the regional level, all Pacific countries are invited to participate in a
range of training, networking and information sharing activities. At the national level, the
programme is working more intensively with four Pacific countries - Samoa, Tonga, Cook
Islands and Kiribati. Here it is providing on-the-ground sustained support for the development
of Police domestic violence policy, strategy, action plans, systems and training programmes.
Specific objectives are:
i) To increase Pacific Police capacity across the region to prevent/respond effectively to
domestic violence and to develop and maintain effective partnerships through
regionally coordinated programmes.
ii)
iii)
iv)
To increase Police capacity in Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Kiribati to
prevent/respond effectively to domestic violence through national level programmes.
To develop and maintain effective partnerships between Police and relevant
government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), churches, community
leaders/organisations to prevent/respond effectively to domestic violence in Samoa,
Tonga, Cook Islands and Kiribati.
To support the development of appropriate legislation on domestic violence and
training for the judiciary/legal profession in Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Kiribati.
v) To support development of appropriate national policy on domestic violence and
incorporation of appropriate actions in national development plans, in Samoa, Tonga,
Cook Islands and Kiribati.
To a large extent, programme aims at the national level are addressed through the work of
part-time country mentors. The mentors, who were appointed from within NZ Police, were
each assigned one country and are deployed twice-yearly.
Research aims and terms of reference
The research adopted the definition of domestic violence used by the PPDVP: that is,
“violence against women by a partner or spouse”. The study had two main components. The
first centred broadly on Police understandings of and responses to domestic violence. The
second component had multiple strands, covering government, NGO and community
understandings and responses. The terms of reference for each component are set out in Table
1.
1