Cook Islands - Pacific Prevention of Domestic Violence Programme

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Cook Islands The attitudes of key religious organisations towards domestic violence The Cook Island churches seemed to have accepted that domestic violence was a problem in their congregations. However, it seemed that most of the major churches had no formal policies for dealing with disclosures on domestic violence. One interviewee said that some churches continue to be reluctant to interfere in other people’s problems. The view of the Catholic Church is that the safety of the individual is paramount: women should protect themselves, rather than staying in a relationship and putting the family first. This may also be the philosophical position of other churches, but it was not clear whether the church view translated into the actions of individual pastors. The Cook Islands Christian Church (CICC) was taking the issue seriously and had invited PTI to conduct a workshop for students at the Takamoa Theological College. Male members of the CICC were also integrally involved in CIMAVA. There is no question that church leaders involved in CIMAVA genuinely wanted to reduce domestic violence. Their involvement is highly commended and encouraged. However, they often voiced a preference for dealing with domestic violence through reconciliation. While this may be appropriate for some couples, it could also increase the risk for other victims. This may indicate that they need a deeper understanding of the dynamics of violent relationships (also see discussion on Police attitudes to prosecutions and holding offenders to account). Discussion Three additional points should be considered in relation to religious organisations, particularly as the interviewees put forward some contradictory viewpoints. • Some interviewees saw church groups as very effective in dealing with domestic violence. However, others said that very few women approached pastors for help, due to their reluctance to discuss private matters with people outside the family. • Other stakeholders noted that there was a scarcity of credible role models among church leaders, as many were perpetrators of domestic violence: ‘They keep it under the carpet. They need to look at the issues of their own relationships.’ • The adoption of Christian principles was seen as having reinforced stereotypical gender roles in the Cook Islands. The implication was that churches were not necessarily a strong agent for social change. In all, it seemed that religious organisations were not taking a leading role in reducing domestic violence, although the positive steps taken by CICC in particular were highly commended. 42
Cook Islands REFERENCES Anae, M., Coxon, E., Mara, D., Wendt-Samu, T. & Finau, C. (2003). Pasifika Education Research Guidelines. www.minedu.govt.nz CEDAW. (2006). Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Initial Report of States Parties: Cook Islands. (http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/562/20/PDF/N0656220.pdf?OpenEle ment) Commonwealth Secretariat, United Nations Development Fund for Women, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Secretariat for the Pacific Community. (2003). Strengthening Pacific Partnerships for Eliminating Violence Against Women. A Pacific Regional Workshop Report. Suva, Fiji Islands 17 – 19 February 2003. London: Commonwealth Secretariat. Liddicoat, J., in consultation with the Cook Islands and New Zealand Governments. (2005). Pathways to Development: A report on Cook Islands legislation and consistency with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women. Martin, J. A., Nada-Raja, S., Langley, J., Feehan, M., McGee, R., Clarke, J., Begg, D., Hutchinson-Cervantes, M., Moffitt, T. & Rivara, F. (1998). 'Physical assault in New Zealand: the experience of 21 year old men and women in a community sample'. New Zealand Medical Journal, 111 (1065): 158-160. Ministry of Internal Affairs. (1995). Cook Islands National Policy on Women. Strack, G.B. & McClane, G. (2003). ‘How to improve your investigation and prosecution of strangulation cases’. Paper presented at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault International Conference, July 30-August 1, 2003. Gold Coast, Australia. The Health Research Council of New Zealand. (2005). Guidelines on Pacific Health Research. Auckland: The Health Research Council of New Zealand. Vainerere, P. (2005). Domestic Violence: facts collated from July 2—4 – May 2005. Statistics from the Cook Islands Police & Te Punanga Tauturu. Unpublished report. 43
Page 1: PACIFIC PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOL
Page 4 and 5: LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Geographi
Page 6 and 7: Cook Islands The main data collecti
Page 8 and 9: Cook Islands As a general statement
Page 11 and 12: Cook Islands PART 1: PACIFIC PREVEN
Page 13 and 14: Cook Islands Our approach and metho
Page 15 and 16: Cook Islands violence in the four c
Page 17 and 18: Cook Islands • a small number of
Page 19 and 20: Cook Islands SECTION 1: POLICE ATTI
Page 21 and 22: Cook Islands Table 4. Recorded viol
Page 23 and 24: Cook Islands They’re rotated ever
Page 25 and 26: Cook Islands Table 5. Outcomes for
Page 27 and 28: Cook Islands Box 1 Stakeholders’
Page 29 and 30: Cook Islands Community role Some in
Page 31 and 32: Cook Islands Domestic violence is s
Page 33 and 34: Cook Islands As a Policeman, dealin
Page 35 and 36: Cook Islands Police attitudes to tr
Page 37 and 38: Cook Islands The current state of P
Page 39 and 40: Cook Islands • insensitive treatm
Page 41 and 42: Cook Islands Some assessment of the
Page 43 and 44: Cook Islands With groups like PTI t
Page 45 and 46: Cook Islands • ensuring participa
Page 47 and 48: Cook Islands huge tolerance for exc
Page 49 and 50: Cook Islands The current state of l
Page 51: Cook Islands Discussion I was not a
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Page 57 and 58: Cook Islands 4.40 Plane to Rarotong

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